


Freedom

by Sanshal



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Slavery, Broken Families, Brotherly Love, Dubious Morality, Extended Families, Extremely Dubious Consent, Families of Choice, Friendship/Love, Gen, Implied/Referenced Dubious Consent, Loss of Identity, M/M, Master & Servant, Master Jensen Ackles, Master/Servant, Master/Slave, Non-Sexual Slavery, Nudity, Power Imbalance, References to Depression, Slave Jared Padalecki, Slavery, Slice of Life, True Love, Unconventional Families, Years Later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:47:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 30,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25163395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sanshal/pseuds/Sanshal
Summary: A new law comes into play which calculates an individuals’ income and expenditure and if one fails to meet a particular ‘standard’, they are indentured till they can work off the difference by working for ‘sponsors’.Jared fails to meet the ‘standard’.
Relationships: Genevieve Cortese/Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles & Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles/Danneel Harris, Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Comments: 4
Kudos: 58





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this fic wouldn't be here if Wendy didn't organise the spn_j2 Big Bang every year so beautifully. It would also not be here if not for the suggestions and encouragement from my lovely beta- Ereynolds;So a huge thank-you to you! 
> 
> And of course, this fic wouldn't look half as enticing if not for the artistic genius of cherie-morte; so please drop her a line guys. Especially because I handed her the toughest possible task: aging the Js to match this story which spans thirty years- and her 'old' Jared is absolutely lovely. *heart eyes*
> 
> Disclaimer: Any remaining mistakes are, of course mine- the disjointed narrative is not a 'mistake', though. Just saying. That's your lazy author deciding time-jumps were the way to go *wink*.  
> Also, this story is purely a work of fiction (thank God for that; I hope no government gets any *bad* ideas from here). And obviously, no profits are being made from this tale.
> 
> oh! one other thing- I've recently started a blog for my original fiction (and I'll gradually be moving my stories from here to the blog as well). So it would be great if you guys could check it out and give my fledgling attempt at blogging a boost! Link is as follows: https://sanshal.blogspot.com/
> 
> For now, enjoy the story! :-D

_**Freedom** _

_“Freedom cannot be bestowed — it must be achieved.”_ _  
_Elbert Hubbard

(American writer, publisher and artist)

**Ï∞ϫʘ»»Ħ««ʘϫ∞Ï**

It was five minutes past midnight, exactly a fortnight after the ‘ _Debt_ Payment’ resolution was passed by the President when Jared called Jensen, “My name’s on the list.”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What is it?” Danneel questioned as she tucked herself against her husband’s side two nights later.

Jensen shook his head, “Nothing, just thinking about the Padaleckis”

“Find anything?” She questioned, always perceptive of his moods.

He rolled over so that he didn’t have to meet her eyes as he confessed, “It’s not good, Dee.”

“Tell me?”

“He’s not the only celeb case,” Jensen began wearily.

“But?” Danneel prompted.

“But he’s the one who’s going to face the worst of it.”

“Who’re the others?”

“Downey’s on the list-”

“Seriously?” She asked, surprised.

“Yeah, he’s been like Jared, investing too much in charity… and-and that’s good, you know? The government should be hailing them instead of trying to weed them out.”

“It’s a shitty law,” Danneel acknowledged.

“They’re going to want someone as the _face_ of it, you know? To prove that they’re going after everyone equally… and even if Doolittle sunk, after the success of Endgame, if they go after Downey…” He trailed off, shaking his head.

“They’ll end up with mass protests on their hands,” His wife finished quietly. “And not just from the people of our own country. It’ll turn into an international movement…”

“Yeah,” He agreed, “Besides, I think he’s got enough holdings that if he gets a good manager, he can put up a portfolio good enough to get his name knocked off the list.”

“So Downey’s out. Who else is on there?”

“Tricia Robertson.”

“Who?”

“Exactly,” Jensen responded. “She’s a newbie on the indie scene-”

“But she’s too new to make an impact.” Danneel filled in.

Sometimes Jensen really loved how in-tune his wife was with his thoughts.

“And that leaves Jared, doesn’t it? He well known enough to get the media attention but your show is niche enough to keep the backlash manageable.”

Jensen hummed.

“You tell this to Jared yet?”

Jensen shook his head tiredly, “I have one last _Hail Mary_ left. I want to try that before I tell him.”

“He’s lucky to have you as a friend, Jen.” She told him after a moment not needing him to explain; and despite her supportive words, he could hear the tremor in her voice betraying her true feelings.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.” Jensen whispered back, keeping his eyes on the ceiling so that he didn’t have to see the hurt reflected in his wife’s liquid brown eyes.

Danneel just wrapped her arms tighter around him, “I know.”


	2. 1

**Ï∞ϫʘ»»Ħ««ʘϫ∞Ï**

Jared looked haggard, Jensen noted as he and Danneel joined the Padaleckis at the restaurant they tended to frequent. Genevieve also looked strained, but unlike Jared, her make-up covered the worst of the dark circles and stress lines.

Their table was towards the back and the Chinese paper walls around the booth gave an illusion of privacy that all four appreciated. They exchanged pleasantries and small talk for a while before Danneel, always one to tackle the bull by its horns; broached the subject that was weighing on all their minds. Genevieve responded eagerly like she had just been waiting for a chance to open up about it. Jared joined in where required, adding his two cents and filling the girls in on whatever pertinent information was asked about. Jensen sipped his beer and listened, but refrained from joining in; all three sounded so hopeful that he didn’t want to shatter the illusion with his bleak observations.

“Jen?” Jared, ever the perceptive one; interrupted.

He shook his head, “Don’t ask me, Kiddo. The girls have some good ideas...”

“ _Jen_ ,” Jared repeated.

He sighed. “You’re really gonna make me do this?”

“Tell me... _us_ ,” Jared amended with a glance at their wives.

“Look, I hope to God that this blows over,” He started with a huff. “But I think you should also start figuring out who you want out of the blast radius in case the shit hits the fan...”

He watched, heart aching as Jared’s eyes filled and the younger man attempted to shield his eyes by hiding behind his hair. He stretched out his hand, palm-up; across the table and bit back a bitter smile when his best friend immediately latched on.

“M-My kids,” Jared answered after a moment, voice thick and full of tears. “I want my kids safe. And- and Genevieve-”

“I’m not going anywhere, Jared-” Genevieve interrupted, “For better or for worse, remember?”

Jared smiled a little at that but the smile didn’t reach his eyes, “No, I want- _need_ you to be safe, Gen. _Please..._ ”

Jensen nodded encouragingly, rubbing his thumb in gentle circles on the back of the hand still grasping his like a lifeline.

“Hell, if I’m going down, I don’t want to drag anyone down with me...” Jared added with a hysterical chuckle. “Not my kids. Not Genevieve. Not you or Dani or-or-or... well, anyone really. My siblings or parents or-”

“We get it,” Jensen cut in. “I don’t really have a plan yet for how we can ensure that but tell you what; I’ll go with you when you speak to your lawyers tomorrow.”

“Thanks,” Hazel eyes blinked gratefully up at him.

And that was how he found himself with the younger man in the grey walled room whose only claim to colour was the red and green bindings of the thick tomes that filled the wall behind the layer’s desk. Unfortunately, Jared was far more distraught stepping out of the office than he had been going in. Not wanting to alarm their family, he drove them to a nearby park which was thankfully deserted because of the hour.

“What am I going to do, Jen?” Jared whispered after a long minute of simply sitting in silence.

“I’m so sorry, Jay” Jensen whispered as he wrapped an arm around Jared’s trembling frame and pulled hoim in against his side. “... I wish there was something I could do...”

“You offered to take on my debt!” Jared mumbled, glancing up briefly through red-rimmed eyes. “ _Who does that?!”_

“You’re family, Kiddo.”

He blinked and twin streams of tears ran down the sharp angles of his cheeks at the action. “Thank you, Jen. Really. ... I- I uh... I don’t know what I’d have done without you.”

“You have me. _Us.... Whatever you need,_ Dani and I are there for you.”

Jared nodded, a watery smile on his lips. Jensen regarded him solemnly for a long minute before speaking again, “Okay, so what’s the next step?”

“I don’t... I don’t know-” Jared confessed.

“I get that this is hard, but you’ve got to pull yourself together, alright? Your kids are counting on you. Genevieve is counting on you... you can’t shatter. Not now. No matter what happens, you have to hold yourself together, Jay.” He whispered. He felt bad for pushing the younger man- the man who he could still _feel_ trembling against him, but as much as he wanted to coddle his best friend, time was of essence and Jensen knew he had to be the one keeping a cool, strategic mind.

“I- I guess I should check with Mom and Dad if they can keep Will. I know Jeff will put Eddie up.” Jared croaked out after clearing his throat. Unending streams of tears still continued to trickle from his brimming eyes and Jensen felt his heart clench in sympathy.

He chastised himself internally for getting distracted and shook himself mentally to focus on what was being discussed, “Do they have to be split up? It might help them cope easier if they could stay together, you know.”

“Yeah, but Jeff’s already got his family. He can support one more, but I can’t ask- ... same with Mom and Dad.”

“What about Megan?”

“She’s just starting her own family, Jen...she doesn’t need me throwing a spanner in her works... I have- I have to separate my boys.” He whispered, fresh tears brimming over as he stared helplessly at his friend.

Jensen regarded the crying man silently for an interminable minute; he had never been good at watching helplessly when those he cared about hurt, and now was no different. His voice was soft when he suggested, “Or I could take them both in and not force them apart.”

Jared pulled back and looked at him with wide eyes, “You’d do that?!”

By all rights he should be discussing this with his wife first, but he was fairly certain Danneel would back his play in this so Jensen forced a grin: “Hey, they’re as much mine as they’re yours. Of course I’ll take them in!”

Jared managed a tremulous smile and leaned backwards to rest the back of his head against the concrete backrest of the playground bench as he closed his eyes briefly. “Thanks, Jen.”

Jensen nodded, throat dry as he watched the younger actor tilt his face up more to face the sky and allow the breeze to dry his tears. He looked unbearably young and vulnerable like this.

They sat for a long time but by the time they stumbled back home to their girls, they had a definitive plan of action decided. Genevieve broke down when they told her the news, clutching at Jared and sobbing into his neck. Danneel curled into his arms, hiding her face against his chest briefly and shuddering as she tried to imagine herself in her best-friend’s shoes.

Early next morning, Genevieve Padalecki filed for a divorce.


	3. 2

**Chapter-2**

“We have just about six months before the centre comes knocking on your door,” Jensen announced as he pulled out two beers from the refrigerator and offered one to Jared who sat slumped on the couch.

The younger man looked up tiredly at him and Jensen felt a frisson of guilt as he regarded his despondent best friend. Jared had just finalized his divorce with the love of his life earlier in the day and the loss showed clearly in the hunched shoulders of the physically imposing man.

“Jared…?”

“What do you want me to say, Jen?” Jared asked exhaustedly.

“This is just the first step, Jay… and I get that it’s hard, alright? I cannot even imagine what you are going through, but we simply do not have the luxury of time on our hands…”

“Get to the point, Jensen. Please.” Jared interrupted shortly.

“You know that I don’t want this for you, right?”

Jared didn’t dean to answer, continuing to stare blankly ahead.

“Look, if there was a different option, I would have taken it. … I wish there was something I could do. I really _really_ don’t want to see you broken in, Jared. But they wouldn’t let me take your place.”

Jared’s head snapped up, exhaustion forgotten in the face of his apparent surprise, “Take my place?!”

“Yeah,” Jensen shrugged, “I asked if we could swap places… even tried to sweeten the spot by telling them that you would not be harbouring me-”

“Jensen!” The younger actor gasped.

“They won’t let me do it… I’m sorry.”

“What were you even thinking, Jen; making an offer like that!” Jared asked, “What would have happened if they had taken you up on your offer?! Are you nuts???”

Jensen shrugged, “We would not be having this conversation if they had accepted my offer.”

“What of Dani?”

“What of her?” Jensen asked. “We have always been better friends than…” He trailed off, swallowing. “She would have understood. The twins… well; I think they are young enough to forget me after a bit of time. And I know you’d have taken them in if the need arose. You are a wonderful father. You’d raise them as your own. So they’d be okay.”

“And your little birdy? What happens to her, Jen?”

Jensen sighed and looked away. For a minute Jared thought the older actor was not going to answer, but then the man looked down at the beer he was cradling, obviously unable to meet anyone’s eyes and choked out, “Hopefully someday she would understand why I did what I did and learn to forgive me…”

Jared stared back speechlessly for a long moment, taken aback by the magnitude of the unexpected kindness- even if it had not materialised, Jared knew his friend well enough to know that Jensen wasn’t one to make hollow promises. Eventually he shook his head and confided softly: “I’m glad you’re my friend, Jensen. And thank you for offering... _Seriously._ ... I didn’t- I honestly had no clue that you would even do something so harebrained! I’m- I’m just glad that they didn’t take you up on it.”

“Yeah... but it means they’re going to come for you.” Jensen whispered back, his expression reflecting his devastation.

“I’ll have you. And-and-and... I _know_ my boys will be safe. Genevieve... well, after today, I know that she’s going to be okay as well and she’ll watch out for Odette... I-I can’t ask for more than that, Jen...”

“I’m more worried about what they’re going to do to you, Jay.”

“I guess we’re going to find out in six months.”

“This is not a joke, Padalecki!” Jensen growled. He abruptly left the couch to pace the length of the room, making two circuits before he whirled to face Jared again, “They’ll have you for six weeks before they release you into my custody and frankly I’m terrified, Jay. Yes, I’ll be permitted to visit after a fortnight, but I don’t know how much interaction will be permitted and I-… I just- I just need to know that I’ll get you back after those six weeks.”

Jared looked up at the man who had resumed pacing furiously in front of him at his silence: _he really was lucky to have friends who cared so much..._

“Can you promise you’ll come back to me, Jay? Can you give me that much?” Jensen demanded suddenly, whipping around to face him and striding forward before dropping to his knees before his co-star.

Jared reared back, “Jensen?”

“Promise me, Jay. You’ve gotta promise me!” The older man pleaded; a note of desperation clearly audible in his voice.

“Wait- are you... are you worried that they may renege on their deal? Is that what this is about?”

“No, you idiot!” Jensen grumbled, wiping his hand tiredly over his face. He lumbered up from his crouch and dropped heavily onto the couch next to Jared. “They. Are. Going. To. _Train_. You. ... Do you even understand what that means?”

“Sure, they’ll be telling us about the rules and stuff.” Jared answered. Then glanced at Jensen with a furrowed brow because if that’s all that was going to happen, Jensen wouldn’t be freaking out like this: “Right, Jensen?”

“They’ll be teaching you the rules.” Jensen agreed. “But that doesn’t take six weeks, Jay. I mean c’mon... you’re an actor. You learn pages of dialogue pretty much every day. If that was all they were going to do, they could’ve just sent the list to you, maybe organized a quiz or designed some sort of test to check whether you went through the material and gotten it over with.”

“What- what’re you saying, Jensen?” Jared whispered, because what Jensen was saying was starting to make a horrible kind of sense.

“I don’t know-”

“NO!” He countered forcefully, before feeling abashed by his own reaction and softening his voice: “C’mon, Jen. You can tell me, alright? You have some ... some _suspicion_ about what they’re planning to do, which is more than I have. Tell me, _please.”_

“Look, I don’t _know_ what and how they’re going to ‘train’ you, alright? But I think the primary concept that they would want you to learn is that you’re no longer free _\- not in body and not in mind._.. and frankly, I do not see how they or anyone can change the thought processes of a life-time in six weeks without...” The older man trailed of, shrugging.

“Without what?”Jared pressed. “C’mon... don’t chicken out on me now, Jen; please.”

“Re-programming,” Jensen whispered.

“Reprogramming,” Jared repeated flatly, eyebrows twitching as he tried to understand what Jensen was trying to say oh-so-delicately. “Like a machine?”

Jensen shrugged.

“But- but we’re not machines... we- we are human!”

“And I think that is _exactly_ why they’ll try to convince you you’re not.”

“Is that even possible...? I mean... I’m not-... how will they even convince me that I’m not _human_?!”

“By destroying your sense of worth,”

Jared’s breath caught. “What?”

“Look, this is all conjecture-” Jensen back-tracked quickly.

“No, I need to know. Tell me.” Jared argued; eyes wide.

“I’m just freaking you out,” Jensen countered. “And like I said, I have no proof, it’s all conjecture.”

Jared breathed deeply for a moment to calm his racing heart before facing his co-star again, “Look, it can only help if I’m prepared, right? And it’s better to err on the side of caution with these things... so lay it on me, alright? I can take it.”

Green eyes peered into his for a long moment before Jensen nodded resignedly. “I was just thinking... maybe we should do our own _programming_.”

“Uh... _what?!_ ”

“Look, I don’t know what they’ll do to you, but whatever it is, I doubt it’ll be anything pleasant. Best case scenario you’ll learn household chores-”

“What’s the worst case?” Jared interrupted, and then regretted asking when he saw Jensen blanch. “Jen?”

“Worst case... they do convince you that you’re not human. That your only purpose is to serve the desires of your owner.”

“So... something like if my owner leaves me somewhere, I remain there? Like an inanimate object?”

“Precisely,”

“Sounds like the plot of an episode from our show,” Jared snorted.

Jensen didn’t smile, “I know.”

“Yeah well, you needn’t worry. That’s not going to happen.”

“You cannot promise me that, Jay.” The older actor shook his head as shuffled closer to Jared across the couch, taking the younger man’s right hand between both of his, “Everything I’ve read about conditioning points to subjects not even considering disobeying their orders. They are probably going to train you so that going against what you’ve been told will be inconceivable. ... There was- there was this study I read about, the subjects were left in a room and told to stay. There were no chains or things to hold them there, you know? And then they set the room on fire just to see how the subjects would react...” Jensen trailed off.

“What happened, to the subjects? What happened to them, Jen?”

“They died. Every single one of them,” He breathed.

Jared exhaled slowly, trying not to give into his panic. He met his friends eyes once he’d calmed slightly, “Okay. ... but in all probability you’ll be the one holding my reins, Jen. So I don’t have to worry about things like that.”

“There will be things I’ll need to do that you shall not enjoy.”

“I know. But you won’t do it just to mess with me. You’ll also be giving me those kinds of orders under duress.” Jared pointed out.

“Yes, but will you be able to tell the difference?”

“...”

“And your boys... will you- will you be able to recognize them? Because it will destroy them to see you like that...”

Jared swallowed down his bile at the possibility of being unable to _recognize_ his kids. Grasping for a solution he remembered what Jensen had said at the start of this conversation, “You... you said something you we doing our own programming?”

Jensen gazed at him for a long minute before nodding.

“So... what- what does it involve?”

“Basically it means we’re going to make associations. Gestures, words... things like that. So when you experience it, you’ll associate it with...” And once again the older man trailed of awkwardly

“You?” Jared suggested, grinning at his friend’s discomfiture.

Jensen shook his head before venturing a hesitant, “umm... I was thinking more like... safety?”

Jared’s eyes softened, “That sounds really good, Jen. How do we go about accomplishing it?”

“Well, associations are nothing but memory... sort of? Like how a particular smell will remind you of a childhood incident or something, you know? But since we’re trying to associate a particular gesture to a feeling, we need to get you habituated to it. I mean, hopefully by the time we’re done, whenever you come across that gesture you’ll know that you’re safe. Does that sound alright?”

“That sounds amazing, actually.” Jared confessed.

Jensen’s shoulders came down slightly, letting Jared know that the man had truly been tense about the whole programming issue.

“I do have a question, though.”

“Uh...Okay?”

“Why a gesture? I mean you could simply tell me I’m safe, right?”

“I could.” Jensen agreed. “But so could anyone else. And if you did something thinking you were safe, you’d likely get punished for it. Not- not with me, obviously... But- but when it’s with anyone else? Yeah, it’s an unfortunate possibility. So we need to ensure it’s something that others are unlikely to use. And something that you associate with me.”

“Right. Okay... so what were you thinking?”

“I didn’t get that far, actually.” Jensen confessed. “And I was kind-a hoping you’d be able to tell me if there’s some gesture I make that makes you feel good or something.”

“Ummm... your hugs are nice,”

“Not hugs. It has to be something slightly more discrete. And with less variation.”

“Variation?” Jared smothered a laugh despite the gravity of the situation.

“Yeah, I mean; c’mon. Hugs can be full body bear-hugs, side hugs, one-armed hugs... or you- _we_ just... uh... the way we envelope our kids-”

“Yeah, I don’t think you can quite envelope me the way you do with your twins or with birdie, you know.” Jared interrupted with a teasing smile. “I’m slightly uh... slightly _big_ for those hugs.”

“Not the point, Jay.” Jensen rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, okay. I do see your point, though.” Jared conceded.

“Right, good. ...So ... any ideas?”

“No, but I know who will have ideas.”

“We’re not sharing this re-programming thing with anyone else. It’s too risky-”

“Chill,” Jared cut in, fetching his laptop and powering it up, “We don’t need to speak to anybody, just do some... snooping.”

“What d’ya mean?”

“C’mon Jen... we’re ‘ _celebrities’_. Who do you think analyzes our every action and expression?”

“Paparazzi?” Jensen guessed, furrowing his brows as he tried to follow Jared’s thought process.

“No, dumbass. Not paparazzi, _Fangirls_. I’m sure they have identified some gesture of ours and demarcated it as J2 specific by now. ... a-nd... _bingo._ ”

“You’re a genius,” Jensen muttered as he peered over his friend’s shoulder and stared at a blog with their faces plastered all over it. Jared had pulled up a series of pictures with the two of them at various galas and cons and other events and in every single one Jensen had his hand over Jared’s heart as they smiled at the cameras. “Huh. I didn’t know I did that.”

“Neither did I,” Jared answered with a grin. “But this works, right?”

“It should,” Jensen confirmed. “Want to start now?”

Jared nodded, “Ready when you are.”

“Want you to take your shirt off, Jay. Just for a little bit.”

Jared laughed as he slipped the tee off, teasing: “You just want to grope me, admit it.”

Jensen tilted his head towards the still open laptop, “I think our fangirls will disagree on who does the most groping.”

Jared just laughed harder and straightened to face his friend, “Okay, I’m shirtless. Now what?”

Jensen flattened his palm over Jared’s chest, quietly feeling the steady beat of his best friend’s heart for a moment before lifting his head to meet the taller man’s gaze, “How’re you feeling?”

“Good,”

“Safe?” Jensen prompted.

“Yeah, of course.”

“I need you to say it aloud, Jay. Look me in the eye and tell me you’re safe.”

“My saviour is here! I’m safe.” Jared responded without hesitation,

“No!” Jensen snapped. “This is not a joke, Padalecki. Your sanity might hinge on this, okay? So we need to get this right.”

Jared remembered the things Jensen had told about earlier in the evening and realized that his best friend was completely serious about this. “Alright, I’m sorry. … Let’s do this,”

“Good,” Jensen conceded. “I need you to feel my hand on your skin, okay? It’s texture and shape and temperature- as many things about this contact as you can categorise. Try to imprint them in your mind well enough that you’ll be able to differentiate between my touch and anybody else’s. Take as much time as you need. … And once you’re done, remember that you’re with me and that you’re safe. Can you do that for me, Jay?”

Jared felt his throat close at how invested Jensen was in this. If nothing, he hoped the ‘programming’ would take root for Jensen’s sake. Nodding, he closed his eyes and focused on the palm flattened against his sternum. Jensen’s touch was warm and if he focussed on it, he could feel the warmth bleeding into his skin. He furrowed his brow as he tried to feel how much Jensen wanted to protect him, even going as far as to offer to take his spot and felt his friend’s protectiveness through his touch. He opened his eyes, “I feel it,”

Jensen smiled softly, “Tell me,”

“I’m safe… as long as I have you by my side; I’m going to be okay.”

Jensen’s smile was bittersweet as he took his hand back. “We’ll have to see if we can do this every day, twice, if possible.”

Jared nodded, biting his lip to keep from grinning as he grabbed at his discarded tee to cover himself again.

“It supposedly takes about sixty-six days to form a new habit, that’s a little more than two months; but case studies exist where the subjects take anywhere between eighteen to over two-fifty days for it.” Jensen told him seriously, “For both our sakes I hope you fall on the lower end of that spectrum, especially since what we have is just shy of six months… but we have to make full use of the time we have to ensure that your associations for safety and my touch are immutable.”

Jared nodded again, heart warming at Jensen’s sincerity. “Okay, we’ll do it. Everyday for as long as I’m here and as many times in a day as needed.”


	4. 3

“I saw you today,” Eddie whispered as Jared tucked him in. It had been a fortnight since the divorce and while the separation didn’t hurt as bad as it had in the immediate aftermath- _he had too many things to worry about and plan for to brood about his wife… his ex-wife;_ nights were always harder. He and Gen had made a point to tuck the kids in together whenever they were both at home, and while he had been away often enough due to his work; Genevieve usually made it a point to be at home by bedtime so it had only been a handful of occasions when he’d tucked in the children alone.

He paused at the unexpected words, brought out of his melancholy musings by them and knelt next to the bed, stroking his son’s soft, chocolate hair gently. “What d’ya mean, buddy? Of course you saw me; I was with you guys the whole day today!”

“No.” Eddie shook his head, “I mean... I-I saw you with Aunt Dani... I- I guess I know now why Mommy left us.”

“What?!” Jared felt his eyes bug out, “Eddie... hey, Kiddo... that’s not-”

“Don’t lie… Mommy said it is wrong to lie!” And Eddie’s voice was fierce this time. He anger would’ve been formidable had he been justified, as it was, it just broke Jared’s heart to see his son so visibly upset, “I _saw_ you!”

“You have to-”

“I don’t have to do anything, Dad!” Eddie protested with all the hostility that would have been at home on the face of a teenager but was woefully out-of-place on his eight-year old face. Jared winced as his son’s voice rose with his belligerence. And he didn’t know if it was his expression or whether the boy had run out of steam, but his voice was much quieter as he inquired: “Do you really think Uncle Jensen will want us anymore once he finds out?!”

Jared fell back on his ass as his knees gave out at the question. It had only been a few days since he’d shared his plans of putting the boys up for adoption with them and while both children had been understandably upset, they had been obviously relieved to find out that Jensen planned to take them both.

“I hate you!” Eddie all but shouted in his face with tears rolling down plump cheeks, apparently having gained a second wind in the face of his father’s silence. “How could you do that to Mom, Daddy? To Uncle Jensen?”

And abruptly Jared was furious- his rational side warned caution, telling him how vulnerable his son was right this moment, but the irrational, hurting part of him wanted to lash out without care. Ultimately, he settled for simply escaping the room before he and his words did serious damage. “Tell you what, buddy. I’m gonna call Jen right now, okay? You can enlighten him yourself.” With those words he stormed out of the room, grabbing his cell and hitting speed-dial two without bothering to glance at the clock.

He was well into his fifth bottle by the time the sound of a familiar engine came from his driveway.

“Dude! What’s with the midnight emergency? Boys okay?” Jensen asked as he let himself in with his copy of the key. He paused briefly as he took in the bottles littering the coffee table and sighed when Jared continued to silently sip from the bottle in his hands. “Seriously, man... C’mon, speak up. I’m way too exhausted to handle a brooding silence right now... Did you drunk dial me? Or is something the matter?”

“Eddie wants to talk to you.” Jared grumbled out.

Brows furrowing, he bounded up the stairs to where the boys’ rooms lay. Heavy footfalls alerted him to his friend’s return a few minutes later and he glanced up briefly from his tumbler of whiskey – _he’d run out of beer once he’d finished his sixth bottle and moved on to the harder stuff-_ to watch as Jensen came down the steps cradling Eddie in his arms as though the boy wasn’t an eight year old with the Padalecki genes.

Eddie’s tear-stained face peered out of the blanket Jensen had wrapped the boy in and Jared felt a brief pang of guilt as he took in his son’s red-rimmed eyes.

“Okay.” Jensen announced as he sat down on the couch opposite, still cradling Eddie to his chest. “Now, who wants to tell me what happened?”

Jared didn’t answer, watching as his son curled closer into his best-friend’s chest and choosing to take another sip from the bottle he was nursing.

“R-i-ght.” Jensen muttered tiredly. “Jared, buddy... I love you, but its quarter to one and I haven’t had a proper night’s rest in four days. Please. ... Speak up?”

Jared felt a frisson of guilt as he recalled that Jensen had just returned from his four-day DC trip earlier in the night before remembering the current situation was because _Jensen_ wanted him _trained._ “My son accused me of cheating on his mom with your wife.”

Jensen choked, arms tightening automatically around the boy in his lap before relaxing and turning to face the child in his arms. “Is that true, Eddie?”

Eddie ducked his head, “I’m sorry, Uncle Jen.”

“Hey, shush.... you don’t need to apologise, buddy. It’s okay. I’m so glad you came to us with this instead of staying quiet.”

Jared scowled, _it was good?!-_ Yeah, perhaps when you weren’t the one being accused of cheating it was possible to be objective about the situation.

“Are you mad at Daddy?” A painfully young sounding voice queried and this time Jared felt guilty.

“No, Kiddo. I’m not angry with your Dad. Or with you,” Jensen reassured soothingly. “Can I ask if there’s anybody else who knows this? To whom you’ve spoken to, regarding this?”

Eddie shook his head.

“You’re sure?”

The child nodded. “You’re not mad? You promise?”

“I promise, Kiddo. I’m not mad. Not at your Dad and definitely not at you. And thank you so much for telling me.” Jensen dropped a kiss onto the chocolate curls framing that still-chubby face (it felt like his children were growing every minute with how fast they were stepping away from that cuddly childish rounded-ness).

“And aunt Dani? Are you angry with her?”

“No, son. I’m not angry, okay? At anybody.”

“Are you going to get a divorce as well?”

“No, Sweetheart. I’m not getting a divorce.”

Eddie started at him, clearly puzzled by the turn of events. The boy opened his mouth to speak again when Jensen gently pressed his index finger against the petal pink lips, silencing him.

“Now, I’m going to tell you something, okay? Will you hear me out? You can ask me whatever questions you have about it afterwards.”

Jensen waited for Eddie to nod and only once the boy did that he removed his finger from over his lips, “Good boy.”

The child offered a hesitant smile.

“Okay, so we should have probably told you boys about this sooner, but we didn’t want you to worry. Now, when you saw your Dad and Aunt Dani today, that wasn’t a secret, Kiddo.” Jensen waited for Eddie’s nod of understanding once again before continuing. “Dani was just helping your father, Eddie. You know how your Dad gets really, _really_ sad sometimes? When he needs you and your mom and Will and Odette to help him?”

Eddie nodded slowly, eyes wide. The kids did not know the full extent of his depression, nor did they know that Jared had actually contemplated suicide briefly; but all the kids knew that Jared ‘got sad’ sometimes.

“Well, now since your mom can’t help your dad any more, Dani came over to try and help. It wasn’t- it wasn’t an episode today- not exactly... but it was something similar. Does that make sense?”

Eddie nodded vehemently and wriggled on Jensen’s lap till the actor let him down. The boy hurried to his father and threw his thin arms around his father much to the shock of the inebriated man, “I’m sorry, Daddy. I don’t hate you... I’m sorry I said that, I didn’t mean it. ... I-I love you.”

Jared felt his heart clench, “It’s okay, Eddie. It’s okay. ... And I love you too. _So much_ ,”

Jensen smiled from across them. And then stood up, “Okay, now that we have that outta the way, none of you are spending the night here, ‘kay? Why don’t the two of you head on down to the car. I’ll get Will?”

And that was how the three Padaleckis found themselves spending the night all bundled together on the large bed in the Ackles’ guest room.

_***_

_***_

Losing custodial rights over his sons was in some ways even harder than going through his divorce and even knowing it was more of a legal requirement than actual separation didn’t keep him from breaking down when it was his turn to sign on the dotted line.

Eddie and Will weren’t faring much better, eyes swollen and red as they stood clutching at each-others hands, sniffling quietly. Jared’s eyes misted as he took in the one small suitcase each of them had been permitted to pack- Will’s distinctive with dinosaur stickers all over it; and he thought back to the last time they had been packed; all five of them laughing as the boys tried to pack their entire room into their cases for the week-long holiday they had gone on. This time they weren’t allowed to carry more than what they could pack into those same suitcases and even though he knew that Jensen would drive over to gather the rest of their stuff later, it hurt to know that if Jensen hadn’t agreed to bend the rules, this would be all his sons would be allowed to keep. As it was, he was still getting nightmares from reading the blogs of people who had formerly been in the system - one man mentioned that his things had been packed into two _garbage_ _bags_ when he’d been moved to his first foster-home because he had been five when suddenly orphaned and hadn’t known where his parents had kept their suitcases. He tried picturing the psychological damage that had been inadvertently done by that thoughtless action- and given how the man had _recalled_ that specific detail even at thirty-five years of age, he was sure it had to be damaging and shuddered to imagine his kids facing a similar fate.

Once they were done, Jensen insisted on waiting till Jared’s cab arrived to take him home (the older actor had wisely advised against him driving to the court, knowing he would be in no state to drive himself back) before taking the boys back to the Ackles’ residence.

The house felt emptier than ever before with his kids absent, and a part of Jared was glad he only had to spend two more nights in the place. Every instinct in him made him want to drive over the short distance to the Ackles’ place and cuddle his boys; but he didn’t want to give the authorities any chance to keep a closer eye on his case and that meant staying away. Too much was at stake for him to risk giving into his urges: his future, but more importantly, his boys’ future and while he might be okay with risking his future, he would not let anything happen to his kids. So he stayed put.

***

***

Jensen was there when the people from the Bank came to reclaim the house and as horrible as living alone on the huge property had been- _he’d been going from room to room like a spectre doomed to haunt the place-_ it was harder still to hand over the keys. He remembered watching Eddie and Will and Odette take their first steps, getting the henhouse and Genevieve diligently working on their little garden… Once Gen had taken all that she wanted to keep, most of their stuff had been sold to line his wallet as much as possible before the final evaluation… it hardly felt like the vibrant house it had been even a fortnight ago; but it was still _home_ in a way his Vancouver apartment had never been.

That was gone too, now. … he was literally _homeless._

The thought was enough to make him stumble and he was glad of the bracing arms that caught him.

“Ohmless,”

Green eyes peered worriedly into his, “Didn’t quite catch that, Jaybird.”

“Am ohmless” He managed through his clogged nose, frowning when he realized that he was not making sense.

“No you’re not!” Jensen countered, apparently having caught onto what he was trying to say, “Home is not a place, Jared; remember? Sam and Dean never had four walls and a roof to call their own, not till they found the bunker… but they were never quite homeless, were they?”

Jared managed an incredulous, choked laugh at the direct quote from the show and looked at Jensen to see the familiar green eyes softening with relief.

“I’m not Sam, in case you haven’t noticed. And I don’t have a _Dean_.” He managed once he’d composed himself.

“No, but you do have a family. Your boys, they’ll be your home. … and- and if you’ll let me, I’d like to be a small part of what defines your ‘home’ as well. It needn’t be a big part, just an insignificant wall or something, maybe? Maybe just one of those fold-able Chinese partitions, you know? The ones made of paper or silk and mounted on wooden panels?” Then catching sight of Jared’s expression, the older man flushed, “Sorry, was rambling. I just meant that I’m there for you, Jaybird. Always, okay? Remember that.”

***

***

Three weeks of staying at his parents’ later they came for him.

***


	5. 4

The soft snick of the door closing behind him sounded like a death-knell to Jared’s ears even as he appreciated being away from the hundreds of clicking cameras that recorded his entry into the ‘Processing centre’ for posterity.

In many ways the centre was as bad as he’d anticipated- they (he and the other unfortunate souls who had the unfortunate distinction of making it on the ‘list’) had been stripped of all personal possessions at arrival. Fortunately for him, worldly possessions were not what he wanted to safeguard against this new law. The ‘room’ he was escorted to was one he shared with six other males: three blacks, one Hispanic, one he wasn’t sure was Asian or middle-eastern and the remaining one spot was as yet unclaimed. The atmosphere was understandably sombre and then, as he claimed the bed at the furthest corner, he became uncomfortably aware of how subtly racist the laws was: with the majority of the affected being blacks and POC, there was bound to be little coverage of its unfairness. Apart from being the token ‘celebrity’ falling for the law, he was also going to be in the tiny minority of whites affected, which made Jensen’s prediction of him being made into some sort of ‘symbol’ all the more likely. He sighed as he sank – _or tried to anyway, given how hard the mattress was-_ down on his too-small bed and tried to think of his boys who were hopefully unworriedly attending school right this moment.

“Hey, ain’t you the dude from that show my daughter watches?” One of his room-mates enquired.

“Supernatural?” Jared supplied and offered his hand with a smile as he sat up on being addressed, “Yeah, I play Sam Winchester on the show.”

“Dude!” The one whose ethnic origins had confused Jared stepped up next to the man who’d addressed him first, “I thought you Hollywood types rolled in money.”

“I was … _comfortable_ ,” Jared conceded. Then, feeling brave added in a conspiratorial whisper: “But not upto _their standards,_ apparently.”

“So finding your name on the list might’ve been a shock, huh?” The man returned with an easy smile, “Me, I knew I’d find my name in there the moment they announced it- I’m… _or was, at any rate,_ between jobs at the moment. Got a degree in microbial technologies… unfortunately, that’s not something the government is really invested in at the moment, they shut down the institute I was working at and I’ve been on the lookout for positions ever since. I’m Vikas, by the way.”

“Jared,” he returned, “It must’ve been tough, losing your job like that…”

The man shrugged, “It is what it is…”

“And you, what’s your story?”

“I’m Will,” the dark-skinned man responded, “I’m a chemist. … got framed for growing marijuana in my backyard. The courts found me innocent, but the whole process took seven years and now no employer will touch me with a seven foot pole.”

“That sucks dude,”

Before they could continue there was a shrill trilling of a bell. Everybody glanced at the ceiling instinctively just as a mechanised voice announced it was time for lunch and for the ‘inmates’ to assemble in the dining hall. Jared stepped in with the others to the ‘dining hall’, in reality a long rectangular room with a row of tables lined along the far wall. He found himself eerily reminded of all those dystopian universe/prison movies. Once he had collected his plate, he looked around for the rest of his ‘room-mates’ and was rudely reminded that the ‘dining hall’ lacked proper tables and chairs, something that he had noticed but not focussed on while entering the room. For a few minutes everbody shuffled around awkwardly, but then Vikas muttered an audible ‘ _oh, well’_ and sat down cross-legged against one wall and glanced at them questioningly. After his move, the others also started following suit. They all had just about finished eating when their ‘wardens’ came in.

“This is good; looks like we won’t need to teach you ingrates to kneel,”

Even expecting it, the harsh words made Jared shudder.

“Now that you have all eaten, we shall host a small _orientation ceremony_ just so everyone is clear regarding what is expected. Some of you are lucky enough to have found sponsors; so if your name is called, please line up along that wall,” The man pointed and continued, “If your name is not on the list, you will be given a generic training for four weeks before we hold an auction. Once you find sponsors, you shall be given an additional fortnights training as required depending on the purpose your sponsors are hosting you for. If you have any questions, keep them to yourself. As Tennyson’s poem says, _Yours not to reason why.”_

“It’s _Theirs_ not to reason why,” A disgruntled voice grumbled loudly, “And it is about soldiers on a battlefield.”

“Mr. Lenox, is it?” The warden stepped forward, indicating wordlessly for the man to rise, “You were an English teacher, if I recall correctly…?”

When the man sheepishly nodded, visibly nervous at being singled out.

“Well, you have given everyone here a wonderful chance to see what happens when an _inmate_ smart mouths to his betters,”

“I-I-I’m s-s-s-sorry!” The man whimpers, beards of sweat pearling on his upper-lips, “I didn’t mean to!”

“Oh, I’m sure you didn’t, but you still did, right? Don’t worry, this time is just going to be an educational experience for everbody here”

“I-”

The warden held up a finger, “C’mon now, Lenox; you don’t want to make it worse for yourself, do you?”

***

***

Ten minutes later, Jared had his name called and joined the eleven other people who had already found sponsors. Once they told him what he was going to be trained as, Jared stopped smiling.


	6. 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has explicit sexual situations of dubious ethics and morality. If it triggers you, please skip onto the next chapter.

When Jensen followed the handler through the open door, Jared was on his back on the clinical-looking stainless steel trolley, thighs forced up and open and ankles padlocked into the stirrups. He had been depilated, not shaved, and the skin of his inner thighs and rear was pale, his denuded balls falling loose in their sac and his flaccid penis curled on his stomach. His hands were not fisted, but his wrists were held down above his head by the cuffs bolted to the bars supporting his arms and a thick, utilitarian leather collar encased his neck. A closer look told him that short chains emerging from the trolley itself were threaded through the D-links on either side the collar and held his head in place. There was a gleaming spider gag in his mouth and Jensen suspected that it was spread as far as it would go because the way Jared’s lips stretched around the metal was distorting them enough to make his normally soft, pink lips appear delicately pale and stretched. He was not blindfolded and the ever changing tip-tilted eyes were wide and panicked. Jensen tried to smile reassuringly at the restrained man, but Jared was obviously aware of some of what was going to be done because the panic in his eyes didn’t abate. Jensen watched as instead of focussing on him, Jared’s eyes tracked the handler. Following his gaze, Jensen found himself looking to the man himself as well and noticed for the first time the rolling table that had been placed along the side of the trolley. While he was unfamiliar with the majority of the items, he couldn’t deny that the extensive array of equipment on it- _that was in all likelihood going to be used on Jared today_ \- was impressive.

Jensen’s mouth dried as the handler washed his hands clinically at the sink at the room’s corner, dried off, and waited as an assistant scurried into the room and helped him into what Jensen assumed was a sterile suit. Only, he had never seen a sterile suit quite like that before: instead of being a single robe, the ‘suit’ was composed of separate top and pants. The assistant simply held the pants and the handler stepped in them. The assistant produced a pair of galoshes next and Jensen watched as the man lifted one foot at a time and held it suspended as the assistant carefully fit the galoshes over the heavy duty leather boots. Once done with his lower half, the man held his arms straight ahead and the assistant once again carefully slipped on the ‘top’ of the outfit. Moving behind the man, the assistant efficiently snapped on tabs at the back of the robe he’d just helped the handler wear. The entire ensemble was made of some sort of black rubber-like material and- _Jensen admitted privately_ -looked rather menacing. A breathable, polypropylene mask in matching black went on next and then a black hairnet. Gloves were the last item to be donned and the man efficiently rolled the latex onto his hands from the largest size packet of gloves and Jensen jumped along with Jared when the seal at his wrists, snapped with a loud snap over the sleeve of the sterile suit. Only then did he turn around. Jensen risked a glance at Jared and saw the younger man’s eyes were unsurprisingly riveted on the handler. Biting his lip, Jensen glanced around the room and noticed the red blinking light at the solitary camera mounted on the roof. It was angled to optimally record the procedures being carried out and Jensen felt a bit bad that Jared’s humiliation would be preserved for posterity. He hoped no one was at the other end, watching the proceedings remotely and that he would be the only one to receive a complimentary copy of the tape. He prayed that their children never found the tape.

The handler stepped to the side of the trolley where Jared was strapped and pressed a button hidden in the panelling there. Almost instantly, the stirrups hitched upwards with a loud whirring of the mechanism, pulling the bound man from his straight position, straining his thighs and raising his hips from the bed. The handler released the button only once Jared was splayed, helpless and exposed.

Despite the evidence, Jensen just hoped the man would go easy on his detained friend. As much as he hated that he had to be a part of this, he was glad to find out about at least some of what Jared would endure in his six weeks of training. The tension in the room felt unbearable and Jensen found himself fidgeting. The handler glanced at him, the smirk obvious despite the mask hiding the lower half of his face and Jensen flushed; he stilled himself with considerable effort and tried to feign a ‘ _couldn’t care any less_ ’ attitude to the best of his ability despite the butterflies in his stomach. He was not the one on the gurney and he was already dreading whatever was about to happen, he could scarcely imagine what Jared must be feeling. He swallowed as he watched the handler select a clear glass plug and proceed to carefully coat it in the provided lubricant. Knowing what was about to happen, Jensen found his eyes straying to Jared’s bared sphincter. It looked tight; a pale pretty pink, untouched moue, exposed and vulnerable. Jensen held his breath as the handler lined the plug up with care, and then slammed it in with a single hard thrust with the palm of his hand.

Jared’s body arched off the bed, a wordless howl echoing through the room as the man screamed through his gag at the pain of intrusion. Jensen watched, blinking rapidly to clear the tears filling his eyes as Jared’s hands fisted unconsciously, his toes curling even as the tendons of his neck strained against the collar holding his head immobile. Between the open spread of his thighs every muscle was outlined in stark relief as Jared breathed through the pain, the ridged definition of his abdominals clenching and unclenching repeatedly with his heaving breath even as the ring of his ass tightened and spasmed around the narrow neck of the plug. Logically, Jensen knew that the plug was no more than half an inch thick around its widest diameter, but the stretched skin around it was already darkening to a brighter pink and he hated that he could only witness his friend’s tribulations instead of helping him. He was grateful that for the moment the handler appeared content to just sit back and watch.

“I don’t think he’s ever had anything up there,” The handler spoke suddenly, startling Jensen. “See that fluttering? How his muscles are contracting and relaxing around the plug’s base? It’s because your boy is trying to force the plug out. … obviously, he’s not going to succeed.”

Jensen watched, horrified as the handler just reached forward and tapped the base of the plug with his forefinger; making Jared choke out another inarticulate scream as his muscles quivered again.

“Okay, while he gets used to the intrusion, why don’t we take a look at his other hole?”

Mouth dry, Jensen could only nod mutely.

“It's surprising how much can be understood by the state of someone’s teeth.” The handler explained.

Jared grunted as the man probed his mouth, shining a small flashlight this way and that as he examined the insides of the actor’s mouth. “His gums are a healthy pink, and he has a chip on his right molar, nothing major.” He wound the fingers of the hand holding the flashlight through Jared’s thick hair while forcing a tongue depressor inside the spread open mouth with his other hand. “Nice. This one has a strong and flexible tongue.” Then glancing up at Jensen’s silence, added: “That is a major plus point because with a little training, this one can become a valuable commodity.”

Jensen winced as the handler reached for the metal rod with small rounded ball-like structures on each end and slid it down along Jared’s tongue without preamble. Before even a quarter of the length had been pushed inside Jared’s mouth, the man gagged. Despite the gagging, the handler held the ball steady as Jared coughed and choked, eyes watering as he struggled for breath. By the time the handler removed the probe from his mouth, tears were trickling in a steady stream down the sides of his wide eyes and into his hairline.

Unable to watch his friend choke and splutter, Jensen let his eyes travel over the muscled shoulders and arms. He watched grimly as the strong muscles flexed and went taut under the smooth, unblemished skin. Without the aid of their make-up team, the tan was unusually uneven; Jensen noticed: Jared's left arm is a few shades browner in comparison to his right and ending abruptly at his upper arm indicating that he had been driving extensively in the sun. A white line just above his wrist indicated that he was used to wearing some kind of tight fitting accessory on his left hand. It took him a few minutes to correlate that the white untanned region around his left forearm corresponded to where Jared wore his watch.

His hands were broad palmed, befitting his height and his fingers were long and slender, almost artistic. The cuticles were clean and the nails short but both spoke of a good manicure regimen. When the fingers finally relaxed from their fist, Jensen realized that the hands were lightly calloused in unexpected places: the inside of his middle and index fingers, the ball of his thumb and interestingly, the whorls at the base of his forefingers. It took Jensen wracking his head for a few silent moments to realize that the calluses probably came from Jared’s gym workouts and from handling the camera equipment on the set. He himself had a similar set but his were lighter than Jared’s because he didn’t spend as much time on the weights as the younger actor.

“His nipples are small, but they will hold a piercing, should you wish it.” The handler’s words broke his contemplation and Jensen cast his gaze up to see the man twisting Jared’s nipples between his gloved finger and thumb till they reddened and peaked. “See, they'll carry a clamp and a chain beautifully.”

Before Jensen could protest, the man had tugged each nipple out, thumbed the clamps open, and positioned the pads. He slowly allowed the arched levers to slide back into place, abruptly pinching the abused nub tight between them. Jensen felt his own chest twinge in sympathy as Jared let out a garbled grunt, prompting the handler to tweak the clamp viciously. They both watched as Jared’s chest came up off the trolley in response, a wordless scream of pain echoing through the room.

The handler flicked the clamps off after another minute, leaving the restrained actor panting on the gurney and unceremoniously reached for the man’s genitals, “Good length, not too long, and thick, lightly veined and smooth. You’re going to have a lot of fun with such a nice specimen, Mr. Ackles.”

Jensen nodded dispassionately, watching like a hawk as the man proceeded to fondle Jared’s testicles, rolling them in the palm of his hand to feel their size and shape. “See how his scrotum is soft and even? This indicates that it should be able to accommodate a stretcher or a humbler easily... they do a fantastic job of curbing any thoughts of escape.”

Jensen managed another nod as his gaze lowered to where the skin of Jared’s anal orifice was still flushed around the neck of the plug. As though his gaze had alerted the handler to its presence, the man reached for the plug, tapping against the base lightly before pulling at it gently. Watching the way the plug had to be twisted and turned made him suspect that retrieving the glass out through the clenched muscle was unexpectedly difficult. From what he could see when the plug emerged partially from Jared’s body, the lube hadn't dried up and it made him wonder at just how tight and strong Jared’s anal muscles were to hold onto the plug so effectively. With a little more effort the plug was freed from the clench of Jared’s ass and Jensen felt himself blush as he watched the tiny opening flutter helplessly after being stretched around the plug for so long.

The sound of a hermetic seal made Jensen look towards the handler again and he bit his lip as he noticed the handler had retrieved an ice box from somewhere and placed it on the rolling table next to his instruments to open its seal. Inside were three wide-nozzled, metal-bodied, sterile syringes- _still inside their plastic casing_ \- and an industrial grade bottle of some sort of lubricant. Jensen watched as the handler filled each of the three syringes with care, tapping at the tube to make sure the liquid had settled before replacing two of them on the tray. Then, without warning the nozzle was the third syringe was slid into the restrained actor’s hole and the plunger depressed. He hasn't bothered to warm the lubricant- _or the syringe-_ and Jensen could only observe the shivers that wracked Jared’s frame as the cold nozzle pumped an even colder fluid into his ass. The procedure was repeated twice more and by the time the last of the syringe’s contents drained into him, Jared was letting out a continuous high pitched whine, his hips shifting restlessly within their bonds as he tried to escape the cold.

“I’ve given him more than enough to cope with the speculum, so you don’t need to worry about tearing him, Mr. Ackles.”

“Thank you,” Jensen managed gruffly, silently cursing the man for his sadistic streak.

“You know, if you get the nozzle in deep enough the way I just did, and use sufficient lubrication, your boy here will be wiping it up for the next couple of days. Keeping the lube cooled is better since it increases the viscosity of the stuff and you can pump in a larger amount than if you use it at room temperatures.” The man continued as he carefully extracted the long nozzle of the last syringe from the depths of Jared’s body. “Damn effective way to train him about his new position, if you ask me. With his ass wet and open after a session like this, you can even let him resume his normal activities if you choose; he’ll never forget that his only aim in life is to keep you satisfied. If you want to reinforce the message, just have him drop trou and bend over in the midst of some completely regular activity. It’s important that you don’t bother with additional prep at that point, just slide in like it’s your right. It’s going be uncomfortable, but it won’t damage your boy. Simply walk away once you’re done; let him complete his task with a well used hole and the knowledge that his body is not his own. ... You’ll need to keep in mind not to do it too regularly though; the trick is to keep ‘em guessing.”

The handler’s words made Jensen instinctively picture Jared trying to do one of his stunts as Sam Winchester with his ass all wet and open from having his ass irrigated by lubricant and the thought of it was awkwardly arousing. Abruptly realizing he had been day-dreaming about participating in his best friend’s abuse, Jensen mentally shook himself; disgusted at the route his thoughts had taken. It was not a train of thought Jensen was used to having- more prone to thinking about how he could help the younger actor, and it made him uneasy even as he forced himself to consider it objectively for a second. He was in this because of nothing more than a desire to care for Jared and it was dangerous to allow himself to grow sentimental. After all, emotional attachments were not something he could afford at the moment- he had to do what was best for Jared and as horrible as the thought of making Jared go on set with an ass full of lubricant was, he was sure there would be worse alternatives.

When Jensen glanced back towards the handler again, he had three different speculums sitting on a stainless-steel tray, sterilized and pristine. The one he picked first appeared to be the simplest; three angled, extended bars and ratcheted handles to force them apart. Extensively lubricated by the handler’s own admission, the thing still appeared to take more than a small degree of force to insert. When Jared twitched at the feel of being penetrated with an object once again, the handler leaned forward and got a warning grip on the actor’s balls with his left hand, his right still pushing the speculum inexorably inside the tight clench of Jared’s ass. When the bars were fully seated, the handler let out a relieved sigh as he explained: “Had there been true resistance from scar tissue or similar, we would have had to stop.”

Jensen nodded, throat dry as he swallowed at the mention of _scar tissue_.

When the handler started to ratchet the bars apart, Jared grunted in discomfort and Jensen had to bite his tongue to keep his protest unvoiced. Still, he kept his objections unvocalized and managed to step forward with feigned eagerness when the handler gestured at him to approach; and then stood silent and still as the handler worked to reveal the first glimpse of the bright pink interior of Jared’s body. It made him slightly nauseous to know that Jared had been rendered so powerless that his ass could be forced open at a stranger’s whim and the sight of that glistening, sensitive flesh as it helplessly quivered around the implacable bars of the speculum in response to its muscles’ useless, instinctive protest drove home just how utterly vulnerable he was in his current position.

“Here,” The handler called, breaking into his reverie as he held out a lubricated balled rod.

Jensen accepted the probe reluctantly- hoping he looked hesitant instead of unwilling and took the handler’s vacated seat between Jared’s wide-spread legs. Knowing what was expected, he pushed the wand into the forcefully held-open orifice, and his first investigatory touches were tentative. Jensen took a fortifying breath to gather his scattered thoughts and hunched down, clearing his mind of everything beyond the careful manoeuvring the ball of the rod against Jared’s so-far untouched flesh in gentle exploratory circles. Jared was letting out a low, continuous whine that made Jensen’s heart ache, but he continued to play his role, watching as Jared’s hips suddenly jerked in an instinctive flinch. He stalled at the unexpected reaction, but a quick look revealed that it hadn’t been a reaction to pain. Cautiously, he angled the ball against the upper wall of Jared’s rectum again; searching for the little spot that had felt spongy, but of an entirely different texture and had garnered him the first positive response from the restrained man. He suspected he'd found what he was looking for when Jared let out a sudden yelp, hips snapping up helplessly even as his muscles tightened, rattling the metal buckles of his leather restraints against the trolley.

Jensen was brought out of his Zen-like state when a different metal rod was brought into his field of vision- it looked thicker, and had a slight curvature on its stalk and the ball on it was heavy steel and counter-weighted; and despite his lack of knowledge regarding such instruments, even Jensen could admit that it _looked_ easy to use. He took another breath to hold in his revulsion and swapped the rods as per the handler’s silent directive. Even with the speculum forcing him open, the new rod required more of an effort for insertion, but eventually it too was inside. Jared was shifting restlessly by now, his thighs trembling within their bonds and his gaping anus fluttering helplessly against the speculum and wand. Not wanting to prolong his friend’s debasement, Jensen angled the rod upwards as soon as it was inside Jared, slowly rolling it against the same spot he’d felt with the smaller instrument and heard Jared’s garbled scream.

Forcefully shutting off all thought, Jensen continued moving the metallic instrument the way he’d discovered garnered the most response. He was aware that it was an unwilling, forced response, but he would rather torment Jared with pleasure than pain. So even though every roll of the toy provoked helpless grunts and tears from his best friends’ eyes, he continued till the he had got result he’d been aiming for- _and for a few moments beyond._. By the time he was done, Jared’s cock was softening again in a pool of its own release and the man was trembling violently. Jensen extracted the rod with care and tossed it aside carelessly on the cart- his interest was in the welfare of his friend and not in the objects used for his torment. Once done, he leant back to observe: Jared was a mess. His face was pale, tear stained and his limbs were twitching helplessly against their restraints even as his hands continue to hold their fisted position. Frowning at the white-knuckled grip, Jensen leant up and coaxed the clenched hands to unfurl, biting his lip at the sight of the blood bruises that marred the skin of Jared’s palms where his fingernails have bitten in. Lubricant was drying in gross scale-like patterns on his thighs and his half-limp cock while his belly was smeared with ejaculate from his unwanted release. Used and visibly sore, the actor’s asshole was too stretched to stop the remnants of lubricant leaking down onto the mattress and pooling under his ass. The worst part was watching as the reddened and raw muscles at the mouth of Jared's asshole still tried to contract.

He glanced up to catch something like respect flash in the handler’s eyes and stood up to strip off his gloves, discarding them into the trash can that sat by the door before washing his hands thoroughly. He was vaguely aware of the man undoing the straps holding Jared immobile and turned in time to watch Jared roll off the gurney as the last restraint was undone, only to collapse in a heap on the floor.

“I wish to interact with him,” Jensen announced with as much composure as he was able to muster before the handler had even taken a step towards the man on the floor.

The handler paused from where he had been undoing his gloves, “You’re not satisfied with the checks I performed?”

“No, I’m completely satisfied. But I would like to let _him_ know that.” He retorted with as much haughty ‘celebrity’ attitude as he could summon.

Brows still furrowed in puzzlement, the handler nodded, waving a hand toward where Jared was curled on the floor before continuing towards the sink himself, ostensibly to wash his hands.

Jensen walked the few steps it took to reach Jared as casually as he could force himself and bit his lip as he noticed how red and used his hole still looked, still dripping a lazy stream of lubricant onto the room’s tiled floor.

“Jared?” He called.

No response. _Guess it was time to find out if their ‘programming’ had worked..._

Crouching over the prone man, Jensen flattened his palm against Jared’s chest, feeling the soft thump of his heartbeat as he pulled Jared’s sweaty back to his chest. He allowed himself the luxury of the contact for a moment, reassuring himself that Jared was still warm and alive under his palm. Then remembering they were being scrutinised, moved the man to a sitting position. Jared hissed quietly when his butt touched the floor and his legs sprawled awkwardly as he visibly tried to exercise control over his exhausted body. Jensen rounded the downed man till they were facing each other- still keeping his palm flattened against Jared’s chest- and spoke softly, “I’d like you to know that you pleased me with your reactions today. I shall be confirming the acceptance of your indenture-ship once I leave here.”

For long minutes nothing happened and Jensen feared they had lost Jared to his ‘training’, but then the heartbeat under his palm slowed from its unsteady gallop and the man leaned into his touch, “Glad t’hear it.” Jared slurred.

“ _Master,”_ Jensen corrected with a pointed glance towards the handler who was watching the proceedings with interest. “I want you to thank me properly with the correct form of address. Please remember that I’m no longer just your co-star, but also the person who _owns_ you.”

Jared looked chastised even as Jensen felt his heart rate even out. The man struggled to his knees without warning but Jensen managed to continue keeping his palm flattened over Jared’s sternum. Jared swayed unsteadily- his muscles clearly not upto the task of keeping him upright on his knees in their current state and lurched forward, barely managing to stop face-planting on the floor because of Jensen’s hold and by getting his hands in front of him. Jensen thanked the gods for Jared’s acting skills because when the chest under his hand started heaving, the man was convincing enough in that moment that if Jensen hadn’t still been feeling his steady heartbeat, he’d have been sure Jared was on the brink of panicking, “I’m... I’m sorry, Master... Please forgive me, I meant no offence. And thank you so much for choosing me, Master. I’ll be honoured to serve you.”

“Good boy,” Jensen forced out, a strange mix of revulsion and relief choking him and making it hard to speak, “I’ll see you in a few days, alright? Be good for me.”

“Yes, Master.” Jared agreed docilely.

Jensen reluctantly retracted his hand from where it was pressed over Jared’s chest, risked ruffling his hair once and stood again. He glanced down to where Jared was still on all fours and made a critical sweep over the trembling man to ensure medical intervention was not required. His scrutiny was interrupted by a discrete cough.

“That was actually impressive,” The handler told him when Jensen glanced at him, looking between the two actors.

Jensen arched an imperious eyebrow.

“I-I-I’ve never seen anything like this before... You’re really good at this, Mr. Ackles!”

“Thank you.” Jensen answered curtly, forcing a bored smile onto his lips as he slipped into his professional persona- _he was an actor dammit!- he could emote like no tomorrow when he needed to and this was the biggest ‘role’ of his life._ Feigning annoyance at being made to do small-talk, he enquired briskly: “Can you show me where I have to go to finalize my claim?”

The handler was obviously not used to someone who oozed confidence and money the way Jensen did at that moment and fell over himself to cater to the older actor, “Absolutely... If you give me a moment, I’ll escort you to the office myself.”

Jensen nodded and watched as the man pressed a button next to the door. Faking disinterest in the proceedings, he turned back to Jared and ran his fingers through the younger man’s thick hair- _gratified when Jared leant into the touch readily-_ and didn’t speak as the handler shuffled awkwardly in place till an attendant came to retrieve Jared. Once Jared had been ushered away- _limping and obviously having a hard time supporting his weight_ , the man courteously opened the door for him and escorted him to the office as promised.


	7. 6

Three weeks later, Jared stuttered to a stop as he caught sight of the single king-size bed that the hotel room boasted of, eyes automatically moving to glance at Jensen. It was as though the older man had been waiting for him to look at him because Jensen offered a small smile, “Everyone expects me to enjoy my new... _investment._ It seemed wise to live upto expectations.”

He blushed, “Its fine... it’s just... I’d thought we were going home, first. I’ve missed the kids.”

“So have I.” Jensen nodded, “But Jared, I _need_ to know that you’re _you_ before I can let you near the children. I cannot afford to let them see you lapse into your training or have a flashback or something, okay? So yes, we’ll definitely be going home, but first I need to make sure that you’re okay.”

Jared nodded even as his heart skipped a beat in understanding. It had felt like the end of a prison sentence when his processing period finally came to an end earlier in the day and he was signed off into Jensen’s custody; and even if he was not going to be ‘technically’ free, having Jensen as his master- sorry, _Sponsor_ ; was infinitely preferable to being at the centre. He had been looking forward to finally going ‘home’ and had not even considered the risk of having an episode with the kids as witness- Eddie had been on tenterhooks around him for months after he’d accidentally stumbled in last year while Genevieve had been nursing him through an anxiety attack. He had hated how cautious his boy had become- visibly afraid of setting him off again, and yet he’d somehow forgotten about what it would do to the kids if they saw him collapse into a snivelling wreck. _He really was pathetic._

“Jared,”

His head snapped up at the sharp call and he realized he’d been spiralling. “Sorry,”

“No harm done.” Jensen assured, and then stepped closer. “You know you’re safe with me, don’t you?”

He nodded without hesitation and was taken aback to realize that Jensen’s shoulders relaxed at his confirmation as well. And to his own surprise, Jared felt himself relax more after that: while he’d never questioned his safety, the affirmation helped him realize that the bed was only for show and that Jensen didn’t intend to _actually_ claim him.

“How- how long?” He managed to ask through the boulder that seemed to have gotten lodged in his throat.

“Two days,” Jensen answered, easily following the thread of his thoughts. “We’ll see how you cope and take it from there.”

“O-okay,”

Jensen smiled at him softly and glimpsing the sadness in those eyes, Jared found he couldn’t meet the familiar green eyes anymore. He looked away and forced himself to inspect his temporary accommodations.

“Are you up for heading down to the restaurant downstairs or would you prefer to get room service?”

He didn’t want to be around other people, but he didn’t want to let Jensen down if he wanted to eat at the restaurant either. He shrugged, “Anything,”

Jensen looked at him steadily for a minute, long enough for Jared to fidget, “What?”

“Nothing.” The man blinked and looked away, “Honestly, I’m way too exhausted to interact with people at the moment. You sure you won’t mind if we eat in?”

Jared nodded, hoping his eagerness for the plan was concealed, “Absolutely. I just want to sleep, to be honest.”

Jensen nodded and picked up the intercom, quickly ordering some soup and chow. Jared hurried to the bathroom to change into comfortable flannels.

When the food came, Jared smoothly slid to his knees next to the couch, glad for the plush carpet as he settled down to enjoy his meal- _after six weeks of plain oatmeal, the aromatic flavour of the soup seemed even more appetizing than normal._

***

***

“I’m glad we didn’t head back directly.” Jensen murmured absently as they were putting away the emptied cartons.

Jared froze. “What?”

“You’d have freaked the kids, Jay. And Dani.”

“What’re you talking about?”

“You don’t even realize it, do you?”

He shot a frown in his friend’s direction as he set out Jensen’s nightwear on the bed- the older man had opted to stay in his jeans and tee-shirt in case someone came to the door.

“Jared,” Jensen called, “Look at me, sweetheart.”

Jared obeyed automatically.

“They trained you better than we anticipated, Jay.”

“No they didn’t!”

Jensen raised an eyebrow.

“They _think_ that they trained me,” Jared explained. “And yeah, I did a pretty good impression of a broken slave if I do say so myself, but I’m an actor dude. At my core, I’m still me.”

“At your core, yes.” Jensen agreed, “But they made more headway than you- _than we_ \- suspected.”

“Pffft!”

“No, I’m serious Jay.” Jensen countered, “You don’t believe me?”

“Let’s just say I think I’m a better actor than even I had ever thought myself to be,” Jared responded with a laugh.

Jensen raised an eyebrow and Jared found himself quailing- _what would he do if Jensen found him too smart-mouthed and took him back to the centre?_

“I-I-I just mean that I was playing my part, you know? Pretending to be cowed so that they didn’t think I needed further training,” He explained hurriedly.

“Uh-huh,”

“I-I-I didn’t mean to argue with you,” He murmured in a whisper, defeatedly, “I’m sorry,”

“You were making your point,” Jensen shrugged easily and Jared relaxed. “But, I think that you just ended up making a case for me instead of favouring your point,”

“No I wasn’t!” Jared countered immediately, before blushing. “What makes you think that?”

“Couple of things,” Jensen responded easily, “Let’s just count the things that I observed, alright?”

“Things… as in multiple points?” Jared clarified incredulously.

“Yes, multiple points which support my assertion that your behaviour has changed; and these are all superficial elements off the top of my head-”

“Really?”

“Yes, _really.”_

“Very well, lets hear them then,” Jared returned churlishly, confident in his ability to defend his actions.

“Okay, I’m starting only after we stepped into this room because you might have been faking it outside like you said, okay?” Jensen didn’t pause for Jared’s confirmation before beginning to count things off his fingers: “First: you were too exhausted to head downstairs to eat but you kept your silence because you weren’t sure which option I would have gone for. Second, you didn’t join me on the couch. You knelt anytime I asked you to sit and third, you’ve been offering me stuff all evening,”

“Stuff?”

“You brought me a beer from the bar cabinet. Offered me water after dinner and gathered my cartons to dispose without me asking you to. These are things you never did before, Jay. ... And just look at what you were doing now!” Jensen gestured at the bed behind Jared.

Jared frowned and glanced at the bed, mouth dropping open in horrified surprise as it hit him that he’d just set out his master’s clothes without asking for input from the man- presumptions like that meant punishment and Jared shivered as he wondered what Jensen would do to him. And it was _that_ thought that brought his silent musings to a screeching halt. He glanced up at Jensen, shocked that just seconds ago he had thought of his best friend as _master_. 

“I-…”

Jensen just nodded, absolving him from having to explain himself. “Not that I don’t appreciate it, but you _really_ need to stop acting like you’re my PA or butler or whatever the person who helps Lords-and-Ladies about their tasks is called.”

“Y-yeah,” Jared answered shakily, still trying to wrap his head around his actions through the evening.

“It’s okay, we’ll figure it out,” Jensen assured with a squeeze to his shoulder as he brushed past him to the bathroom to change for the night. Jared wondered if he should share his thoughts from moments earlier to give the man an idea about the scope of the issue but was unable to find the courage to voice the condemning words.

***

***

Later that night, as they lay side by side on the massive bed- both of them clad in their pyjamas; Jared decided he could afford to be brave and confess: “I’ve never thanked you, have I? For doing this?”

Jensen shifted slightly and Jared frowned as he caught the discomfort in Jensen’s expression, “Jen?”

“You shouldn’t have to _thank_ me. Not after what I did to you back at the centre.”

“You did it because it was the only way to get me out,” Jared countered, only then realizing that maybe he should have offered his reassurances to the older actor as well instead of just accepting them- _he had never even considered that he might not be the only one in need of comfort._

“It’s just...” Jensen continued, oblivious to Jared’s thoughts, “I don’t know how rough they expect me to treat you, Jay... but when I was making the case for why I should be granted your sponsorship, I sort of implied that I’m interested in you- as in, sexually. And they seemed to like the thought.” He paused to lower his head and shake it with a disgusted snort, “Boy did they like it-”

“You didn’t tell them you were ‘ _sexually interested’_ in me, Jen” Jared snapped, abruptly tired of Jensen’s protective act. “They showed me the clip. You basically told them that you were a sexual predator... well okay, predator might be the wrong word but you indicated that you had no compunctions about taking advantage of a situation to get what you wanted; despite being aware that if I had the option, I would refuse your overtures.”

“I know, Jay” Jensen said tiredly. “I _do_ remember asking you a month after we met, you know. And I also remember you telling me that you didn’t swing that way.”

“And it’s never been an issue,” Jared assured, “Not once have I ever felt uncomfortable… You made it very clear that it was only something that was going to happen if _I_ was interested as well, and once I told you I wasn’t, you never brought it up again… either by gesture or action. So I _know_ that you’re not going to take ‘advantage’ of me, you’ve had plenty of chances and you’ve never taken them.”

“Yeah well, this time I know that there’ll be no repercussions if I do decide to take that chance… not like you’re going to get a fair trial if you report the rape.”

Jared found himself flinching at the word even as he acknowledged the strength it must have cost Jensen to give voice to it- when he had read about Terry’s admissions during the whole #MeToo campaign, he’d sympathized, never imagining that he might be in Terry’s shoes someday. He took in a fortifying breath and licked his lips as he decided to offer some comfort of his own, “Well, as far as I know there’s not going to be a rape, even if you implied that there was.”

Jensen smiled grimly, “What can I say, they seemed to like the thought of it.”

“They did,” Jared confirmed, thinking about the way the handlers had smirked as they’d forced him to watch the video of Jensen verbally staking his claim on him. “Thought it would break me to realize that my best friend wanted to ‘nail my ass’,”

“And did it?” Jensen asked, shifting so that he could lean up on his elbow. “Bother you?”

Jared shook his head, smirking as he teased: “What can I say? I have a very delectable butt.”

“You do,” Jensen agreed straight-faced.

“And I also know that no matter how _delectable_ I might look, you’d never do anything that might possibly hurt me.”

Jensen was quiet for a long minute, “Thank you for knowing that.”

“I know it, Jen.” Jared reassured, “But what about our kids? I mean you registered me under the ‘pleasure’ category! Did you even think about what’ll you do if they find out? If they believe in the charade?”

“It was the closest fit to ‘actor’… I mean it’s not like I could register you under the labour category or something… you’re still going to continue acting, I’ve already spoken and cleared it with the centre… but they didn’t exactly have a classification for that… And if the kids do find out that li’l nugget? I’ll have to hope that they’ll understand someday and forgive me for it. ... But Jared, our kids have two father-figures. I can learn to live with their disgust and blame- _should the need arise-_ as long as they still get to have at least one of their dads. To trust and love him.”

Jared shifted closer as a way to offer wordless comfort and was gratified when the older actor promptly wrapped his arms around him. There was some awkward shuffling around after a minute, but he was exhausted after his ‘training’ and soon acquiesced to lie in the way Jensen positioned him; quietly revelling in the feeling of safety the older man emanated and the softness of the bed after his month on the hard mattress of the training centre. He’d worried that sleep would be hard to come by and so was surprised to find himself being woken by the quiet snick of the locking mechanism as a door closed. The room filled with the aromatic waft of rich coffee and he blearily raised his head from the warm cocoon of blankets he’d been nestled in.

He was still fuzzy with sleep when he looked around for the origin of the enticing smell of coffee and spotted a familiar blond head perched next to a table with a couple of greasy brown paper bags and two Grande cups with the familiar Starbucks logo on them.

“Dean,”

The bowed head shot up at his call, “ _Jensen_.”

The amendment woke him all the way and Jared blushed as he realized he’d unconsciously sipped into Sam Winchester’s headspace because of the motel-like feel of their hotel room.

“Right, sorry.” He apologised.

“Don’t apologise,” Jensen told him, passing him a steaming cup as he sat up in his blanket nest.

At his questioning hum, the actor elaborated. “It might be better for you to stay in Sammy’s headspace for the next bit.”

“Um-hmm?”

Jensen looked across the room, obviously unable to hold Jared’s gaze as he confessed, “I have an indecent proposal for you,”

“And… do I get a choice regarding whether or not I can refuse said proposal?”

Jensen ducked his head, “Something along those lines has to be done, but you are allowed to negotiate. We can think up a fresh proposal or modify the one I have in mind… it’s up to you. What you don’t get a choice in is the _implementation_ of it. We need to do it before we head home. Be it today, tomorrow, sometime this week or even month; we can go elsewhere if you choose. But we’re not heading home before we have executed it.”

“Okay, so hit me with it.” Jared nodded in understanding even as he relished the satisfying flavour of the coffee, prepared just the way he liked it.

“I- I need to take a look at you,” Jensen murmured, then after a pause, “an _intimate_ look.”

“I thought you’d already done that,” Jared blurted before he thought better of it.

“Not enough to pass muster if I’m questioned,” The man who had portrayed Dean Winchester for over a decade responded with a grimace.

“ _Are they going to question you about it?”_

“I don’t know,” Jensen admitted, then raised his head to look at Jared. “This whole shit-show is something they’re just starting out with. And they’re going to want a face for the whole thing-”

“And you think that’s going to be me?!” Jared asked incredulously.

“Yes,” Jensen agreed without batting an eyelid. “You’re photogenic. And they already know I’m not planning to do anything to disfigure you; so they might want to use you to showcase how _humane_ this eff-ing system is. … You’re popular enough to give them all the publicity they could want but not so popular that showing you in chains is going to spark a revolt. _And_ you’re the ideal candidate to show off that celebrity status is not going to get anyone out of ‘Paying their dues’. … whichever way you look at it, if I’m right, they’re going to target you. Which means I’m going to be … _well, not targeted, but probably asked uncomfortable questions._ I’d have suggested we wait before doing anything but truth is if they do round us up, we’ll not have the time to build a believable story- especially not one that we are _both_ aware of to-”

“Pull a Sam and Dean?” He finished.

“There’s far too much at stake for me to want to risk that, Jay.”

Jared huffed and gave in, “Fine. What do I have to do?”

“I’ll never touch you again- _ever-_ at least not privately, if you agree to this. … and-and I’ll figure out how to get Gen bac-”

“Stop bargaining and tell me what do I have to do!” The younger man snapped before catching himself and amending, “-what _we_ have to do.”

“Right, sorry.”

Jensen looked so genuinely apologetic that Jared found himself softening automatically in response, "Tell me, it's okay."

“I’ll need to look at you- _all of you-_ at the minimum. And hear about any sensitive spots- ticklish spots and whatever else you can think of to tell me. Also, what touches you like and those that you don’t.”

Jared grimaced but nodded his acceptance. “What else?”

Jensen’s fair skin flushed an unsavoury shade of red and Jared quirked a curious eyebrow, “Jen?”

“I’ll need to finger you. Time how long it takes for you to let me in.”

Jared breathed out slowly from his mouth, counting the seconds in his head to keep from hyperventilating. “Just- just your fingers?”

“Jesus, Jared!” Jensen’s head shot up in disbelief. “You think I actually _want_ to violate you like that?! Of course _just_ my fingers. That’s already more than I can stomach.”

Jared sank back against the pillows at his back as he relaxed at Jensen’s obvious despair at what needed to be done. “Would- would you need to time how long- _how many hits-_ it takes my skin to colour as well?”

Jensen stared for a moment before ducking his head, “I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re right… it might be a good idea to cover that as well.”

Jared nodded.

“So… when?”

“We can do it now. Get it over with.” Jared suggested. “I don’t want to particularly build myself up in anticipation.”

“Okay,” Jensen agreed. “Go take a shower… draw up a bath. Whatever. Just… see if you can relax for half-an-hour or so. I’ll set everything up.”

Jared nodded and slipped off to the en-suite bathroom. Jensen was facing away from him, busily scribbling something when he emerged. He cleared his throat and slipped off the robe he had wrapped himself in.

Taking off his clothes with Jensen in the same room was nothing new given their profession, but the vulnerability of being the only one naked in a room had been impressed upon him over the last few weeks. In any case, being refused the dignity of even an underwear was new for him. He shuffled uncomfortably and struggled not to instinctively shield his genitalia with his hands as he waited for Jensen to finish writing whatever he was and turn around.

“Oh,” Jensen breathed when turned and saw Jared.

He raised an eyebrow at the obvious _surprise_ in Jensen’s exclamation.

“You don’t have to stay naked the whole time, you know? You can keep your towel- or even wear your boxers if you prefer, until I have to examine you in that region.”

“I’ll have to take it off eventually,” Jared shrugged, “So it hardly matters if I wear underwear now,”

“If you’re sure,” Jensen responded uncertainly.

Jared nodded, but when the man stood up to approach him, he found himself instinctively stepping back before checking the impulse.

“You’re okay?” Jensen checked, stepping closer till he could just reach out and touch, but held back from the action with visible restraint.

Jared managed a nod but obviously he had not succeeded in projecting the calm he was aiming for because Jensen’s eyes softened and he opened his arms wide, “Oh sweetheart,”

Jared stepped into the embrace wordlessly. He lost time and didn’t know how long they simply stood like that but by the time he moved to pull back, his front was warm from the older man’s body heat.

“Sshhh… we can take it as slow as you want, okay?”

“Hm,”

“Want to get into bed?”

He jerked back as if scalded, the muscles which had started relaxing in Jensen’s protective hold tightening back up like bracing for a hit.

“We’ll just sit. Maybe talk a little. Whatever you’re comfortable with.” Jensen elaborated at his response.

Jared nodded his acceptance but the shook his head when Jensen began to move him towards the bed. “Just get it over with?”

“As you wish,” Jensen answered. The man took a breath, visibly steeling himself for what he had to do and then reached for Jared.

Despite knowing he was going to be touched, he still jerked back in surprise when the other man cupped his cheeks. He was proud that he managed to keep himself from flinching away completely.

“Don’t freak out, ‘kay?”

He managed a stiff nod with his head still restrained between Jensen’s hands. Hands whose fingers were gently exploring his face and tracing the position of his moles. When Jensen tilted his head downwards and spread his thumb across his jaw, he held his breath- sure he was going to be kissed. But then, instead of pressing his lips to Jared’s, Jensen’s fingers rubbed soothing circles on his jaw till they paused at the mole by his nose. He let out a startled whimper when Jensen released him abruptly and hurried back to the desk to jot things in the notebook he’d been working in. He caught a glimpse of the paper and it didn’t look like words, and his latest entry included more numbers which made him wonder at the purpose behind the calculations Jensen was working on.

Despite his burning curiosity, Jared held his tongue when Jensen got back; reminding himself that the man was not just his friend now but his custodian as well and _that specific title_ was bound to include unsavoury details which he was better off not knowing.

He was guided to the bed and sat upon it when Jensen returned after his fourth entry, the older man resuming his inspection, carefully curving his hands around Jared’s throat and tracing the slight protuberance over his adam’s apple and dipping his fingers in the hollow of his neck. The depressions in his clavicles and the thin skin stretching over that bone got much the same treatment. Jensen left to make notes after each.

“Tell me what do you like?” Jensen asked as he ran his fingers lightly through the sparse hair in his underarms to check for tickling.

Jared giggled instead of responding and the question seemed forgotten as Jensen carefully worked his way down both arms, his pectorals, his ridged abdomen and the sharp jut of his hipbones. He shifted uncomfortably, but his genital inspection was carried out as clinically as the observation of the rest of his legs.

He was turned over and his back received much the same treatment as his front. And even when Jensen set up a timer to track how long it took him to accept a finger in his ass, Jared felt safe.

The spanking with a timer to measure the amount of time (and the number of hits) it took to turn his skin pink was as unpleasant as expected, but in an odd way it felt reassuring to know that Jensen was so meticulous in his efforts to safeguard Jared.

Later that night when they curled up together under the blankets once again, Jensen asked, “You never answered my question- what do you like?”

“Cuddling,” Jared answered without taking the time to think his words through.

“Like this?” The man checked, lightly tightening his hold on the younger man.

“Exactly like this,”

“Good. I’m glad.” Jensen answered. “What else?”

“I… I used to like playing with Gen’s hair,” Jared answered after a brief hesitation.

“And with me?” Jensen countered before an awkward silence could set in.

“Talking to you?” Jared offered after taking a moment to think.

“Okay, that’s- that’s good. … You can always talk to me, okay? About anything… I don’t care what the centre told you, you have something to say, you come to me.”

Jared nodded.

“Alright then,” Jensen went on, once it was apparent that Jared wasn’t going to add anything, “Good night,”


	8. 7

Jared couldn’t stop his tremble as he stepped into the Ackles’ residence a month and a half after leaving for his training- it felt like an eternity had passed since that fateful morning and it made him question if he was still the same person that had walked out of these doors six weeks ago. He had hoped for privacy, but they were accompanied by people from the centre, the centre’s official photographer and the ever-present throng of journalists. He was not sure what reason Jensen had had given for the two day gap between retrieving him from the processing centre and returning home, and part of him suspected he didn’t want to know either; in any case, he found himself grateful for Jensen’s proprietary hand on his shoulder and moved obediently next to his ‘sponsor’ as he was led to the living room. Jensen settled himself on a couch and Jared automatically sank wordlessly to his knees next to the man, knowing perfectly what was expected of him from his six weeks of ‘training’. It was only once he was seated that he noticed their audience and felt himself flush- despite the relative normalcy of the past three days, it was hard to brush off the conditioning he had gone through. Kneeling beside Jensen for the Centre’s representatives and journalists was akin to slipping in Sam Winchester’s skin in some ways- it was still him, but distanced… having their kids watching him doing the same thing felt viscerally wrong somehow and he twitched instinctively.

“Hey guys,” Jensen greeted the kids, voice deceptively warm even as his hands tightened their grip on Jared’s shoulder as though aware of his thoughts.

Jared felt his breaths start to quicken, but then the hand on his shoulder slipped lower and flattened itself; and he felt a calm wash over. He peeked up at Jensen in surprise, not having expected their ‘training’ to work so effectively but relieved nevertheless. And now that he was calming, he suddenly remembered that he hadn’t seen his kids in over a month. His eyes hungrily dragged over the gathered children automatically- _he had missed them so much;_ and watching their smiling faces loosened something inside him he hadn’t realized was tense _._ The two youngest immediately started to move towards him but were swiftly gathered up by a red-haired woman. _Danneel,_ he realized with some shock as he took her in- he had never seen Jensen’s wife look anything but picture perfect, but here she was sans make-up and with her fiery hair piled up in a tight knot on the top of her head. He knew it was all part of Jensen’s meticulous plan: making it appear like it was all so _normal_ , and he had to admit that it had the desired effect. She shot him a covert smile and his eyes widened as he realized that not _all_ of it was planned: there were dark smudges under her eyes indicating the unvocalized stress of the situation. It shook him to know that he and Jensen had not been the only ones affected by the fallout of the _Debt repayment resolution._

“So guys, I think all of you remember who our-” Jensen hesitated, visibly searching for an appropriate word and meeting Jared’s eyes apologetically, “... _guest_ is. He uh- he shall be living with us indefinitely. ... You can all call him Papa Jared. You can approach him for anything if your Mom or I aren’t immediately available and I expect all of you to treat him with the respect that he deserves. Am I clear?”

Jensen waited till he received slightly confused nods of acknowledgement from all five kids. Justine, Eddie and Will were naturally the first ones to grasp what Jensen had been waiting for, already familiar with the concept of journalists and watching eyes… the twins were naturally the most sheltered of the group and were visibly confused about _why_ Jensen was introducing someone they were already familiar with; however both were quick studies and once they caught onto their siblings’ exaggerated nods (and he had to commend JUSTINE on the way she discreetly signalled what was expected), they followed suit flawlessly. He glanced up in time to catch Jensen’s eyes stray to the gathered reporters. Jared instinctively leaned towards the man and was gratified to have him reciprocate immediately by tightening the hand on his shoulder in a brief squeeze. He wished they could have had some privacy as he was introduced to the kids in his new role, but then again; having him behave in the way that was expected due to the media presence might make the distinctions easier to accept for the children.

“Jay, this is my family.” Jensen continued in the same formal tones with which he had introduced him to the children, “I’d like for you to know and love them because as of now, they are the closest you will have to a family as well. The children are to be cared for, but do not go against anything that Dani or I have said. You are not allowed to punish them- _yet;_ once we are more familiar with each other, I’ll let you know if you are permitted any disciplinary roles; however, this does not mean that you allow them to misbehave. They are kids, they need gentle guidance; so in case you feel like they have done something that they shouldn’t, please let them know. In case they disobey you and continue with the activity, please alert me or Dani to the situation and we’ll take care of it. The children are under no obligation to obey you, but I’d like for them to follow your ... _suggestions,_ as applicable. Please remember that in the end, you are the adult and as such the responsibility for their welfare is in your hands.”

Jared ducked his head as he nodded his acquiesce. He had to bite his lip to control the grin that wanted o slip out at Jensen’s (obviously) rehearsed ‘ _introducing the family’_ spiel and remind the man that he had successfully babysat them on numerous occasions, but their ‘audience’ forced him to rein himself in.

“Okay, so... photo-op time! Kids, you remember the positions we discussed?”

There were low murmurs of accent and then the twins were crowding in on either side of him even as Justine clambered up the couch next to her father. Danneel left the room briefly and when she returned sometime later in a different outfit, she was poised as always as she took a seat on Jared’s other side and then Eddie and Will were gathered to stand in front of Jensen and Danneel. He felt two delicate little arms slide around his neck as Justine leant up to rest her chin on the top of his head and then both Jensen and Dani were placing their hands on his shoulder. He was still revelling in the protectiveness of the gesture when there was a flurry of camera shutters snapping and Jared found himself blushing. Once the flashes died down, the centre’s photographer beckoned Jensen and rose to check out the image. Jared wondered if he was supposed to follow Jensen and rise, but the children maintained their positions around him, and he didn’t want to dislodge them. Danneel’s delicate hand squeezed lightly where it rested on his left shoulder and he glanced up. She offered a smile and a very deliberate blink and he realized that he was supposed to hold his position. As he relaxed back into a comfortable kneel, he suddenly realized that he had been ensconced in a protective ring and had to blink back tears of gratitude at the thoughtful gesture. Blinking rapidly to keep the tears from falling, Jared glanced up just in time to watch Jensen murmur something to the photographer and point on the screen and then nod in approval.

***

***

“Front and centre, Jared.” Jensen called with a snap of his fingers as he walked into his study, shutting the door behind them to keep out inquisitive young ears.

He watched, not speaking a word to ease the tense atmosphere permeating the room as his friend-turned-slave shuffled inside, perching on the edge of the chair facing the large mahogany table that dominated the room. Instead of taking his place behind the table, he walked to its front and leant back, resting his hip against its side and crossing his feet in front of him in a show of casual power. He watched as Jared’s throat undulated uneasily with his swallow.

“So,” He clapped his hands once, suppressing a smile as Jared jumped at the sharp sound. “Rules”

“Ru-rules?” Jared repeated blankly.

Jensen softened. “Given the situation, I dare say we need some rules in place. Don’t you agree?”

“If you feel its best,” Jared answered uncertainly.

“I do.” Jensen confirmed. “Because as things stand, I’m not just your friend, Jay; I’m also the person who holds your contract.”

“I know.”

“Good,” Jensen said. “So while I don’t really care for how you address me within the privacy of these walls, I’d prefer you to remember the appropriate forms of address when others are around. ... As I mentioned at the Centre, you can call me Master or Sir; either form of address is acceptable to me, you may choose the one you’re most comfortable with. In case of emergency situations, you may call me Mr. Ackles or Jensen. But that’s _only_ when you need to catch my attention urgently. I shall be very cross if you make use if my name otherwise.”

“Yes, Master.” Jared whispered. His knees trembled slightly as he debated whether he should slide down to his knees instead of sitting on the furniture like a free man. Deciding it would be appropriate under the given circumstances, he began to slide down, only to be stopped with a gentle palm on his shoulder.

“You will kneel if we have company. If not- _unless you are directed otherwise-_ you are free to make use of the furniture.”

“Thank you, master.”

“Umm, right.” Jensen nodded uncomfortably. “To continue with what I was saying... I spoke to others. When out in public, Dani has agreed to answer to Mistress. And you’ll need to prefix the kids’ names with Little Master or Miss. Clear?”

Jared swallowed.

“I asked, _Is. It. Clear_?” Jensen snapped; eyes narrowed as he glared at the trembling man before him.

Jared’s eyes widened. “Ye-yes, Master.”

“Thank you,” Jensen softened his demeanour once again. “I know you may grow to hate me, Jared. Especially given all the rules that we’ll have to follow, it’s looking pretty much like a definitive instead of a mere possibility... But truth is; I’ll always prefer that you are safe and _you_ enough to hate me than the alternative. And I’ll do _anything_ to ensure things stay that way.”

Jared felt his lips twitch in a weak smile- _he was lucky to have friends like this who put his wellbeing over their friendship._

“Coming back to what we were discussing,” Jensen began anew, “You know I have five kids. What I’d like you to know is that my boys- _all three of them-_ are as important to me as my girls. I will not tolerate you trying to ‘toughen them up’. They are children and will be treated as such.”

He nodded.

“And I don’t know if you are aware of this or not, but two of my kids are adopted. That doesn’t mean that I love them any less. You will regret it if you try to use that information in an attempt to drive a wedge between my kids.”

Jared suppressed a smile at the words even as his brows furrowed as Jensen’s voice turned more ‘professional’. He glanced around discretely to see the cause of the sudden change and found a shadow prowling outside the window.

Jensen nodded wordlessly as his eyes swung back to the man, “Now, coming to emergency protocols; the kids hold first priority. You protect them to the best of your ability- you may do whatever is necessary without fear of repercussion- no restrictions. I’ll trust your judgement if such a situation should arise. After the kids, your next priority will be my wife. And then yourself ... Only in situations where I’m incapacitated in some way _and_ you can help me _without_ risking yourself will you come to my aide. Am I clear?”

Jared swallowed as he nodded reluctantly.

“You look like you have something to say.” Jensen observed.

“Yes, Master.” Jared admitted reluctantly.

“Go on,”

“I was just wondering why you would prioritise your property’s safety over yourself? Master?” He added as an afterthought.

“Property? You mean yourself, don’t you?”

Jared nodded sheepishly.

“Well, I’m unsure of what my financial situation would be, in case an emergency arises... and you, _my favourite piece of property_ ; are like a golden goose, should such a situation arise. And as I already mentioned, my family is my main concern. Before you, before anything else. I need to know that they are safe and have some means of supporting themselves. And having you would ensure that they have something- some _way_ for them to get a little instant cash. So yes, I do prioritise you over anything else that I might own.”

Jared looked at the man and bit back the tears that wanted to brim over. Despite couching his reasons beneath a layer of practicality, Jared knew the words hinted at just how much Jensen cared. And he was glad that Jensen knew him well enough to understand that there was nothing he would not do to keep the kids safe.


	9. 8

“Hello, Ackles’ Residence,” Jared answered the phone- after three weeks, saying _Ackles’_ came much easier than it had in the beginning when he’d still slip and answer with Padalecki Residence.

“Hello, Mr. Ackles. I was calling to let you know about an incident that occurred during lunch hour at the Middleton Elementary School today involving your wards.” A cultured female voice informed him.

Jared felt his knees grow weak, all thoughts of correcting the woman’s assumption forgotten, “In-incident?”

“Unfortunately, some of the kids targeted Edward and William and made a few unkind comments regarding their biological parent’s indenture-ship.”

“Oh God,” Jared breathed as he tried to regain his equilibrium. _Unkind comments_ \- he wondered what the carefully chosen description concealed. “Are they- are they okay?”

“Yes,” Much to his relief, the woman answered without hesitation. “I would like you to know that your daughter’s action in response was most appreciable. She stood up in support of her... erhm... her _brothers_ and had one of her other friends alert the teacher to the situation.”

“ _Justine_ did that?” Jared asked, voice choking up as he thought of the fiery six-year old.

“Yes, Justine handled the situation with grace and poise that would have been impressive on an adult, no matter a child.”

“Thank you so much for sharing this with me. ... Is there something we need to do in response to the ... the incident?”

“You could discuss it with the children and reassure them to ensure they are not traumatised, but I suspect that Justine may have it handled already.”

Jared nodded, “Thank you.”

“Care to share with the class?” Jensen’s voice from behind him just as the call disconnected made him jump.

Jared whirled around, still clutching the receiver before replacing it in its cradle and realizing that he had probably just _impersonated_ his ‘Master’. He glanced up uncertainly and felt relief wash over him when he could see no recrimination in the familiar green eyes. “Middleton Elementary School called.”

Jensen’s eyes widened in instantaneous concern, “Kids okay?”

“There was apparently some bullying today. Eddie and Will were targeted because – because I’m _indentured_. Birdie stepped in and took care of it.” Jared summarised.

“Atta girl,” Jensen cheered before sobering, “The boys okay?”

Jared shrugged before nodding, “The teacher seemed to think so.”

“Good.” Jensen returned decisively. “Let’s order in some pizza and marathon Disney. That should brighten spirits all around.”

Jared felt his lips twitch up in a helpless smile. Danneel had gone to Chicago for a week and left them with strict instructions to feed the kids _healthy_. He doubted pizza made it to her list, but breaking rules when their wives were out-of-town was something Jensen and he had done forever. By Jensen’s own admission, they were not around the kids enough to be effective as disciplinarians and so should shoulder responsibility to be the ‘fun parent’.

“Dani’s going to kill you,”

“Ah well, the boys’ll need a distraction and some pick-me-up. Justine deserves a reward for a job well done. Pizza fits in either category.” Jensen shrugged.

Jared smiled and shook his head.

***

***

He had been thinking about the phone-call since the moment he had answered it and with each replaying of it in his head the boys got into bigger trouble and Justine turned more _heroic._ Eventually, he found himself on his knees before his God-daughter the moment the children returned from school. He could see Jensen’s puzzled frown from the corner of his eyes and a moment later he felt the man quietly usher the rest of the kids from the room to give him and Justine some privacy, but his eyes were too filled with tears to be sure of anything.

“T-T-Thank you,” It took him three tries to get the word out and he was half-sure that it was still too mangled for the seven-year old to understand what he was saying but right that instant he couldn’t do anything beyond gripping her hands tightly (careful not to crush the delicate bones in his much larger grip) and repeat his gratitude. It took him a moment to understand that she was trying to retract her hand and he left go immediately, flushing slightly. He hoped no one misinterpreted his actions as malicious- it would have looked bad under normal circumstances to have a grown man clutching a not-related-by-blood seven-year old the way he had been, and given how he was virtually a slave, it was going to look even worse. He opened his mouth to apologise for his thoughtless action when he felt soft hands wiping gently at his cheeks.

“Don’t cry, Papa... Please don’t cry.”

And his heart melted at this child who was trying her very best to take care of him- _she was truly Jensen’s daughter._

“I’ll be indebted to you for as long as I shall live,” He told her quietly.

“What does that mean?” She asked; confusion evident in her young eyes.

“You don’t owe anyone anything, Jay.” Jensen’s voice from behind him made him jump. He glanced over his shoulder as the older actor approached and dropped into a crouch behind him, settling his hands on his upper-arms. “We take care of our own in this family, Jay. And you are _family._ Right, Birdie?”

Justine grinned and nodded at her father. Then leaned in for a quick hug, “Love you, Uncle Jay.”

“Love you too, Kiddo. So much.” Jared whispered. As much as he liked being called Papa, it had felt good to hear his old name from her.

***

***

Another couple of weeks went by and he and Jensen had to return to Vancouver to film the new season. Despite the changes, leaving his family was as hard as ever and both men spent the flight in silence. It was only when the cab stopped at Jensen’s apartment that Jared remembered that he no longer had his own place, having sold it in a desperate bid to line his wallet as much as possible for the second round of evaluation.

If Jensen noticed his reaction, the older man made no comment of it, mechanically starting to air out the rooms and remove the dust-covers.

Jared glanced around the familiar walls and thought back on all the good times they’d shared within these four walls.

“A hand?” Jensen called and Jared hurried to help the older man unpack the kitchen items. It was a tedious job, but it was busy-work and distracted him from his melancholic thoughts.

He was grateful to realize that he had his own room and wouldn’t have to bunk with his friend- even if they’d shared a bed more number of times than their craziest fans suspected, it had always been out of necessity and exhaustion and after the long months of co-habitation, Jared was glad to have his privacy back.


	10. 9

Arriving at the set the following morning, Jared was fairly relaxed; knowing that the set was a safe place where he was not going to be judged. Which was why the glaring absence of his trailer was such a blow. Jensen guided him to his own trailer- the one Jared was supposed to share now that he was no longer a ‘free man’, and Jared realized with some surprise that his trailer had not actually been ‘removed’; the SPN crew had apparently ‘merged’ his old trailer to Jensen’s to ensure technical adherence to the law while gifting Jared his own space.

He had to blink back tears at the thoughtful gesture.

***

***

“You know, I really thought our industry was more inclusive than this,” Jared grumbled to himself as he checked his mails.

“Yeah?” Jensen asked from across the room.

He glanced up petulantly at his friend, “Yeah. … I mean there’s not a single script for me! Hasn’t been, since I registered.”

“About that-”

Jared’s head jerked up at the unexpected sound of guilt in Jensen’s voice.

“Any scripts for you have to be routed through me, Jaybird-”

“Yes, _and-?”_ Jared questioned with narrowed eyes.

“You have been getting offers; way more than I have, in fact.”

“Oh?”

“But it’d destroy you to see what kind of roles they’re trying to hem you in and I couldn’t forward them for your perusal in good conscience. So I’ve sort of been holding onto them…”

“I’d like to see them.”

“Jay, I don’t think-”

“You rotten snail! I don’t really give a frickin’ eff to what you think. You have no right-!” Jared paused as his words caught up with him, then glanced sheepishly at Jensen, “I- err… sorry?”

“No, you’re right. I don’t have any right to withhold information from you, but I _will_ advice caution as you go through these, okay?”

He nodded mutely, eternally grateful to the fact that his custodian knew him well enough to ignore the occasional outburst.

“Sent,” Jensen murmured after a moment and Jared turned to his laptop’s screen. His eyes nearly bugged out at the sheer volume of mail- all of it scripts for him to choose from.

“Wow,” He couldn’t help but murmur, “That’s- that’s really impressive.”

“It’s really not,” was his custodian’s dry retort.

“You’re just jealous,” He lobbed back cheerfully.

“Sure, if it makes you feel any better.” Jensen returned without looking away from his screen.

Jared grinned briefly at the automatic retort- _it felt like them, despite all that had transpired;_ before settling in to peruse the scripts.

***

***

Two hours later, he was no longer smiling and was a hair’s breadth away from losing his dinner.

“Je-Jensen?” His voice was hoarse, like he’d been screaming for hours.

“Hmm?” Jensen sounded like he was distracted but after years of having known the man, Jared knew better than to think Jensen’s whole attention was not focussed on him. It had been during one of their early talks that the older actor had confided that he was a firm believer in _Mr. Roger’s_ dictate that if you were interacting with someone, you owed that person your complete attention.

“These- these scripts they’re all-?”

“Yep,” His custodian responded, still not looking at him.

“You’ve read them all?” Jared prodded.

“Skimmed through, yeah,”

“That’s why you were refusing to share them-?”

“Yep,”

“But this- this means that … that-” he trailed off, not sure how to continue.

“It means that our industry is filled with sharks, who won’t hesitate to cash in on someone’s misfortune.”

“It’s not my fault?” And he hated how small his voice was.

“No!” And this time Jensen’s voice was ferocious. Jared peeked up at the vehemence of the response and found familiar sea-glass coloured eyes razor focussed on him. “This _does not_ reflect on you. It’s not your fault that your situation has got producers salivating at the prospect of hiring someone they can underpay while eliminating the cost of hiring body-doubles at the same time. And the icing on the cake? This _someone_ is talented beyond belief and has a huge fan-following, which guarantees that their plotless, dubious excuse for a poorly disguised blue-film will be a hit at the box-office.”

Jared’s mouth dropped open at the unexpected rant from the older actor- Jensen was usually so reserved that Jared sometimes forgot how articulate the man could be under the right circumstances.

“We just have to be patient,” Jensen added in a softer tone after a moment. “If we can hold off from accepting the crap they’re sending you, I’m fairly sure they’ll soon realize that we are _not_ stooping to their ham-handed demands. Now there’s a very _very_ high probability that even a good script will have scenes like the ones that litter this garbage… but the script should justify it.”

Jared nodded. Then, after a pause, “But won’t that make things difficult?”

“Financially?” Jensen asked, easily following his thread of thinking.

He nodded.

“Yeah, some. It’ll just mean that I _have to_ pick a movie or something this summer… and it can’t be an indie thing.”

Jared bit his lip as he gave an acknowledging nod. “Sorry?”

“Not your fault, Jay,” Jensen cut in. “If you want to blame somebody, blame those greedy-ass bastards.”


	11. 10

“Jen,” Jared brought up the topic uncertainly, “Do you have a minute? There’s something I would like to talk to you about...”

“Sure, shoot.” Jensen returned, swivelling in his chair where he’d been perusing a script.

“Uhm... I know it’s not my place to comment- _not anymore,_ but we have a really good thing going here and I don’t want to lose it-”

“Just spit it out, Jay,” Jensen interrupted not unkindly.

“You’re treating my boys with way more leniency than Justine. ... And I don’t know what you’ve told her, but she’s truly your daughter, Jen. She’s staying quiet and taking it and I suspect she’s going to _keep_ doing that, but it’s going to drive a wedge between our kids. And I can’t bear to let that happen. ... I mean, she stood up for Eddie and Will last week... and-and-and I can’t tell you how much it meant to me that she’d _chosen_ to intervene. I just want the kids to _stay_ that way, a team. ...and you singling her out for a talking to when both Will and her were involved in the argument... that’s _not_ going to help with that-”

Jensen steepled his fingers as he listened to him ramble and Jared shut up abruptly.

“I’m sorry. I know it’s not my place-”

“Hey, no... I told you on your first night here and I _meant it,_ Jay. Those kids are as much yours as they’re mine. ... And I’m glad you told me, I hadn’t realized I was not acting impartially.”

“Yeah?”

Jensen smiled back sheepishly, “Yeah,”

For a minute neither of the men spoke and then Jensen leaned back in his chair again with a low creak of plastic, “So... what kind of punishments did you give your boys when they stepped out of line?”

“I’d usually just spank them.” Jared shrugged.

Jensen jerked forward in shock, “You _hit_ your children?”

Jared laughed- he suspected being a father to girls was a very different experience than that to two rambunctious boys. He’d had Odette, but she’d been too young to be involved in their games – _or to be actually punished for any of her mischief-_ and now it was too late. He forcibly made himself put that thought back in the box he’d placed all his thoughts about his daughter and wife in and closed the mental door on that box again before explaining, “Calm down, it’s not like I beat them black and blue or anything even remotely close... Just, a few taps to their behind every once in a while served to remind them of what not to do,”

“Right,” Jensen grunted, obviously still not convinced. “No, that’s not happening. No one is going to administer _corporal punishment_ on any of my kids. Okay?”

Jared shrugged- he’d given up on any right to his kids when he’d signed those adoption forms. It was an unexpected gift that Jensen and Danneel had bestowed upon him by involving him in raising the boys. He wasn’t about to question Jensen’s methods and lose the opportunity, “You’re the boss, Jen.”

“No,” Jensen countered, clearly not believing in his easy acquiescence, “Please. Don’t do that- I _want your input,_ Jay... it’s just that I-I _can’t_ do that, okay? I’m not going to raise a hand to _any_ of our kids irrespective of what they’ve done. Please don’t ask me to.”

Jared exhaled slowly and walked up to the older man before sliding gracefully to the floor before him, “I won’t, Jen. Okay? I promise I’m not asking you to do anything that you’re not comfortable with.” On a sudden flash of inspiration, he reached out a hesitant hand and flattened it over Jensen’s heart the way his friend did for him and watched fondly as the man relaxed into the touch. “... Just tell me what we’re going to do instead.”

“For now we’ll continue to scold them as the need arises, but once they are seven- we _can wait until they’re_ _older if you feel this punishment is too much for them to handle-_ I was thinking we could ask them to list their infractions through the week and deal with it at the end of it. Say... Friday nights, maybe?”

Jared frowned, “Yeah, but what’s the _punishment?”_

“It’ll depend on the crime, so to speak. I was thinking along the lines of extra chores, withheld tv privileges, a sudden disappearance of their favourite food from the menu for determined time spans... Those kind of things.”

“Okay... but is it _right_? I mean...” Jared trailed off, hesitating.

“Go on,” Jensen encouraged.

“Won’t this make them start to self-blame? In-in the long run, I mean.”

“It... shouldn’t,” Jensen said after a long minute of consideration. “It’ll teach them to be responsible, yes. But I don’t think it should impact them negatively, you know? I mean... the whole point of it is not to focus on the _punishment_ but on the fact that they learn take responsibility for their action and take steps to correct them if they are in the wrong.”

Jared nodded.

“Actually, I think we should do it with you too,”

“ _What?!_ ” Jared was ashamed to admit that his voice had shot up an octave in surprise. “When did this conversation become about me???”

Jensen chuckled, “I just think it might be an idea worth exploring… I’m obviously not going to _do_ anything to you without prior discussion, but I just think that this idea might have some merit.”

Jared glared at the older man, “You’re saying that since I’ve not been ‘bad’ and you’ve been unable to punish me during this period, you want _me_ to come up with reasons for _you_ to punish me.”

“Of course not!” Jensen huffed. “But I don’t want to loose you on some bullshit technicality and I don’t want them to come up with make belief bullshit excuses like I’ve been too soft on you or too hard on you…” After another moment his shoulders hunched as he some sudden realization seemed to shake him, “Do- do you want to be re-assigned?” He added in a voice so soft it appeared to almost be an afterthought.

“No,” Jared assured gruffly, “Of course I don’t want to be reassigned. I’m not a bloody idiot, Jen! I know I’ve got it good with you. Plus my boys are here.”

“Look, I don’t know when, but they’re bound to come for an inspection sometime. If for nothing else, then to make sure that I’ve not been abusing you. ... So if we have a whole notebook filled _by you_ where you list your mistakes... it should be good.”

Jared gave an unimpressed glare, “Yeah, right.”

“I’m serious. You remember how Darcy told you to make a list of everything good that happened to you every day?”

Jared nodded.

“Are you still doing it?”

Jared shook his head.

“Why not?”

Jared shrugged.

“Well, that can be your first error,” Jensen responded. “You are supposed to take care of your health, Jared. That includes mental and emotional aspects.”

“You gonna punish me with the kids?” He demanded, slightly belligerent.

“Not _with them_ , per se. And not _punish._ Not always. Like I said, it has to fit the crime. ... I want you to do this as more of a smokescreen, you know? In the event of an inspection it should help establish that you are under rigorous monitoring.”

“They may want to witness a _punishment session_ , since you are gift wrapping it for them.”

“Possibly,” Jensen agreed. “But I still think it’ll be better to toe the line and _do_ a session like that- should the need arise than risk having them deem me unsuitable and return you to the centre for recalibration.”

Jared bit his lip, shoulders hunching as he gave in, “I guess you’re right.”


	12. 11

Jared was on all fours and receiving his third enema and feeling a whole lot more sober when Jensen arrived at the detention centre. He had hoped that Jensen would intervene once he arrived but the cool voice enquiring if he was sober yet as he was hosed down yet again told him that his friend was not impressed with his actions.

He swallowed in trepidation as he caught a glimpse of the thunderous expression on Jensen’s face when he was led to a bench without having a chance to dry himself. Hoping that remaining docile would help his cause, Jared didn’t protest when his ankles were cuffed to the two legs of the table. A firm hand at his nape guided him forward until he was bent at the waist and then the loop on the collar that had been put on him the moment he’d been arrested was affixed by a short chain to the surface of the table.

“Spread yourself for me, Padalecki.”

Jared trembled at the use of his last-name but not wanting to antagonize Jensen in his current mood, he reached back and parted his nether cheeks shamefully.

“Wider.”

Eyes clenched in shame because Jensen was not alone, Jared obeyed.

“Good. Hold position until I say otherwise,” Jensen’s voice was demanding; leaving no question that he meant the words to be a command and not a question.

“Yes, Sir.” Jared managed to whisper nevertheless, hoping to convey his willingness to listen to Jensen and hopefully appease his fury.

“Do you know what this is?” Jensen asked, holding a wide-mouthed, clear, glass vial in front of him and not responding to Jared’s wordless plea.

Jared peered at the pale gold coloured viscous liquid with tiny flecks of red swimming in it apprehensively.

“This is a special lube,” Jensen told him, “Designed especially for misbehaving individuals under the indentureship scheme… the golden colour? That’s from ginger extract. And these red flecks? Cayenne pepper.”

Jared opened his mouth to protest almost instinctively, eyes widening in terror as he figured out where that lubricant was going to be used.

“Nope.” Jensen interrupted before he could even utter a single syllable. “You don’t get to speak. I’d trusted you, Jared. Let you go out with your friends… and this is how you repay my trust? No, you’re going to take everything that this state-mandated punishment demands and you’re not going to say a single word in protest. You’ll take it and you’ll _thank me_ for taking the time to correct you. _Am. I. Clear_?”

Jared nodded miserably, too upset to speak up as he watched one of the officers take the bottle from Jensen and fill the ‘ _punishment syringe’_ with the custom lubricant- he had heard of it before, but watching the six-inch long perforated slender tube getting slowly filled with the liquid had him terrified. The ‘punishment syringe’ looked like a water gun and he suspected the mechanism was the same- the only difference being that the tip of the nozzle was sealed, so that when the plunger was pressed, the liquid was pushed out through the perforations along the side of the tube: it was an effective mechanism to ensure the spiced lube would be spread across the maximum surface-area possible inside his rectum and cause the maximum agony.

He couldn’t help but wail when the tube was forced inside him and the surprisingly cold liquid unloaded inside his most intimate channel- it didn’t hurt yet, but Jared was under no illusions regarding it’s efficacy.

“I’m thinking a size seven for his plug, what do you recommend, Mr. Ackles?”

“He has never worn that big a plug before… given our jobs, he’s rarely even worn a _small_. But given his actions today, I think he’s earned it. Just ensure that it’s well lubricated, please? I’d rather not tear him internally.”

Jared’s eyes widened at the words and then minutes later there was a burning pressure against his sphincter and Jared gasped as the object was inexorably pushed inside with torturous cork-screwing motions. By the time it was seated in his rectum, the heat from the lube was burning him from the inside and Jared couldn’t help but whimper, hoping Jensen would take pity upon him. He sneaked a glance at his friend and winced when he noticed that the man’s anger hadn’t abated. It wasn’t an unfamiliar expression- it was just unfamiliar on _Jensen._ This was the same expression that _Dean_ wore when _Sam_ threw the years of unconditional love and sacrifice back in his face-the betrayal and fury battling for dominance in his features.

“You can let go now,” Jensen told him and Jared released his hold upon his butt-cheeks with relief.

“Brace yourself,” was the next thing he heard and Jared was still trying to comprehend the words when something hard and unforgiving slammed into his butt. He barely had time to peer behind himself to discover that there was a burly policeman wielding a paddle behind him as Jensen watched expressionlessly with his arms folded across his chest. Jared turned forward again when his co-star caught him looking and raised a perfectly arched brow. The head-shake had been barely noticeable but Jared knew the best option under the circumstances was to take the hint. The paddle was nothing like the hairbrush he had practiced with Jensen all those years ago and before long he felt like everything between his lower back to the middle of his thighs was on fire. He was soaked in sweat when the cop was finally done and he slumped down against the bench he was restrained upon.

“You don’t think you’re already one, do you?” Jensen snarled at him just as a line of fire lit over the tender skin of his butt. Jared screamed at the unexpected pain and glanced behind himself to watch as Jensen stalked around the bench wielding the strap that was the obvious source of the last hit. He was still trying to brace himself when the second hit landed. Jensen was clearly not holding back and despite his best attempts, before long Jared found himself howling at every hit. He could feel his skin raise up in welts, but Jensen’s anger refused to die and Jared lost count of the strokes until there was a shuffle behind him and he peered back fearfully only to watch as someone gently guided Jensen away from him.

He was swaying, unable to support his own weight when the restraints were undone.

“Is- is it done?” Jared croaked as he leaned against the bench tiredly, not having the strength to straighten.

Jensen glanced askance at the cops but something in the furious glint of the man’s eyes told Jared that his friend was yet to forgive him.

“We just need to get the cage on him and then we’ll release him. I’m assuming you still want to keep his custody?”

“Yes, Officer.” Jensen answered, then glanced at where the cops were bringing the ‘ _cage’:_ “Thank you for this, he hasn’t earned _comfort_ yet,”

Jared’s eyes widened at the cruel words and he whimpered as his genitals were crammed into the tiny cage. He blinked back his tears and sniffled as Jensen snapped his fingers in his direction and pointed in the wordless command for _‘front and centre’._

“There’s press outside those doors,” The man told him in no uncertain terms, holding out a jock-strap.

Jared swallowed, wordlessly accepting the offering and hurriedly pulling it on even as Jensen continued speaking.

“So keep your head down and face hidden, but I want you to let them get a good look at your butt, understand? Once we reach the car, you’re to clamber onto the seat on all fours, hide your face between your elbows and keep your butt raised.”

Jared wondered if he was going to vomit as the orders sank in- Jensen had always shielded his modesty since he’d become Jared’s custodian; so for him to command him like this told Jared that his punishment was not over.

“Do. You. Understand?” Jensen growled at his silence.

Jared nodded.

“I want to hear you say it.”

“I-I’ll let them photograph my butt,”

“And what about your face?”

“I’m going to keep my face hidden.” Jared whispered.

“Good, make sure you obey. If I find a single picture of your face on the news blogs, today will seem like a picnic.”

“Je-Jensen, please…” Jared whispered.

He was taken aback when a warm palm abruptly flattened itself over his trembling heart- and for an instant he wondered if Jensen had just shoved at him, but then years of ingrained response rushed in and he found himself unwillingly relaxing into the touch. “Obey me, Jared.”

Jared swallowed unsteadily. He didn’t understand the reason behind Jensen’s orders but the motionless hand over his chest told him that his friend was in there somewhere inside the furious man. Opening the door was as bad as it always was when they left cons, but unlike those instances; Jared was almost in his birthday suit this time and struggling to keep his face hidden. He whimpered at the bright flashes of light indicating the numerous cameras going off and hurried to keep up with Jensen, getting into the pose the older man had ordered him to assume in the vehicle and braced himself against the seat as Jensen shot off the way he drove as Dean. His limbs were shivering from the exhaustion of holding the demanded position by the time Jensen’s gruff voice cut through the silence inside the vehicle, “We’re out.”

Jared uncurled cautiously, pins and needles assaulting his limbs on moving them after holding position for so long.

“Keep your head lowered.” Was the next directive.

Jared flinched and cautiously met the older man’s gaze through the rear-view mirror.

“I don’t want the paps getting a pic of you off the traffic cams.” Jensen elaborated gruffly.

“Yes, Master.” Jared whispered.

“Lie down,” Jensen offered, voice still an angry snarl but Jared could see the man trying to work through it. “You’ve had a long evening. See if you can grab some shut-eye.”

Jared obediently curled on his side along the seat. He had thought he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep but the adrenaline crash had exhausted him and he didn’t know when his eyes closed of their own accord. He had expected to awaken when Jensen stopped (if he was even able to drift off) but didn’t know how long they had been driving for when his eyes opened. He peered blearily out of the window and was startled to realize that dawn was breaking across the horizon. He wondered what had woken him when the car lurched to the side and realized that Jensen had moved off the asphalt to the gravel of the rest-area when they came to a rough halt by the side of the road. Jared awkwardly listed to the side when Jensen joined him in the backseat.

“I need you to pick,” Jensen ground out after an interminably long minute of silence.

Jared waited, unwilling to speak up and risk the older actor’s temper flaring again when it was so obvious that he was holding on to his composure by a sliver.

“You or the kids,” Jensen added after a moment when it became clear that Jared was not going to ask

“What?” The word was more breath than actual voice, but in the silent confines of the car, it was as loud as the ticking of the engine.

“I thought we were doing good, you know?” Jensen elaborated. “The kids have settled in and it looked like so had you. I have tried to be fair and responsible and just… just _take care_ of all of us, y’know? And I was under the impression that I was doing if not great but atleast fine-”

“You are-”

“Given your actions last night, clearly I’m not, Jared!” Jensen snapped. Almost as quickly as the anger had flared up, it seemed to release it’s hold on the man who just looked unbearably exhausted now as he sat with his shoulders slumped, “I just-”

Jared peered at the older man, waiting for him to continue.

“What were you even thinking, huh?!”

Jared lowered his head as shame reddened his cheeks.

“So anyway, it’s out of my control now and I need you pick who I’m supposed to protect- Our kids, or you. … I tried doing both, but – but like I already said, it’s out of my hands now. So pick.”

“The kids,” Jared answered without hesitation.

“Do you know what you’ll have to face, given that option?”

“I don’t exactly care,” Jared answered. “But whatever it is, I’ll endure it. Just make sure that the children are alright.”

Jensen nodded and pulled out his phone, “Dani?”

Jared strained to hear what was being said but Jensen had stepped out of the vehicle and was speaking too quietly to be overheard. The man returned after a moment and paused by the front seat to retrieve something from the dashboard that he tossed to Jared. He looked at thing in his hand and discovered that it was a small canvas bag with two holes cut in it to serve as eye-pieces. He had seen such bags before, but Jensen had never made him wear one and being given one confused him. Still, he trusted Jensen and moved to pull it on when a warm hand stopped him.

“We need to refresh the marks,” Jensen told him.

Jared couldn’t help the terrified whine that escaped his lips and was trembling violently when Jensen pulled him into his arms.

“Sshhh… You picked the kids, Jared. Have you changed your mind?”

“N-no…”

“Good, then let’s do this, alright?” Jensen told him, pushing him further into the car and then hauling him unceremoniously over his lap, one arm curled under Jared to support him. “Brace yourself.”

Despite the warning, Jared lurched forward at the first hit upon his already tenderized skin. He counted as Jensen laid into him five times before carefully arranging him on his side on the backseat and climbing back into the drivers’ seat. “You may pull on the mask once the car stops.”

Jared obeyed mutely and was silent as he was taken to the airport and checked in under his _indentured-citizen_ status. He knelt at Jensen’s feet for the four hour journey, cheek pillowed upon the older man’s thigh as he made soothing furrows in his hair and was quiet as they arrived back at their Vancouver residence.

***

***

“- hit him, Daddy?”

Jared froze at the sound of JUSTINE’s voice and paused just out of view of the chair Jensen was sitting in as he skyped with the kids. There was a pause and Jared hoped Jensen wasn’t planning on confessing the truth to the child.

“Yes”

“Daddy! How could you?!” was the instant frenzied exclamation. “You told me that we don’t hit people, remember? And Mike had been hurting Will, Papa is so nice! He plays with us and never gets angry even if we make mistakes. Why did you do that, Dad?”

“I made a mistake, Birdie…” Jensen whispered.

“I- I saw the pictures, Dad. You hurt him so bad-” The girl whispered. “You told me not to talk to bullies. You’re a bully now, Dad.”

There was no response from the room and Jared fidgeted as he waited. When everything was silent even after five minutes, he walked in; heart clenching as he saw Jensen sitting statue still at the table, green eyes glimmering with hurt.

“Jensen?”  
The man immediately straightened, pasting a smile on his face and if Jared had not known what had just transpired, he might have even bought the act.

“Hey, Jay. What’s up?”

He shook his head, “Nothing. Just came to let you know that dinner’s ready. What’re you doing holed up in here anyway?”

“Was skyping the kids. Booked their flight tickets, they’ll be here day after tomorrow. It’s a morning flight, so we can set up a picnic-style brunch; might cheer them up.”

Jared smiled sadly at the understanding that Jensen wasn’t going to tell him what JUSTINE had said. Instead, he forced a smile of his own and nodded, “Sounds good. We heading out or do you want to do it in here.”

“In here,” Jensen responded instantly, “It’s been barely a week, the vultures might still be interested in you and I’d rather not expose the kids to that.”

Jared nodded. “Dani coming?”

“Nope, she had that product launch thing-y, remember?”


	13. 12

Two days later, it was obvious that Justine was avoiding Jensen, avoiding interacting with him with as much poise as a nine-year old could muster and finding excuses to sit as far away from him as the room would allow. Jared was glad that the rest of the kids had not caught onto the fact- they all seemed to understand that something had happened, but appeared to be unsure what it exactly was. The twins, way too young to understand concepts like indentureship and punishment were the happiest to see them. Eddie, on the cusp of adolescence was moody as anything, but seemed to appreciate Jensen’s company. Will was happy to hang around with whoever was willing and Justine seemed okay as long as Jensen didn’t try to engage her. Jared felt his heart clench when he saw the realization hit his best friend and his expression crumple, but before he could say something, the twins were there, talking about some cartoon or show or puppy or heaven only knew what and Jensen locked away his hurt to respond to them.

Justine continued to draw in her sketchbook, oblivious.

He decided on the spot that he would intervene, but it wasn’t till breakfast- _brunch;_ the next day that he hit upon a definitive course of action: “I’m heading out to grab some grub, anyone want to join me?”

“I can come along-” Jensen began.

“Was hoping for someone prettier, Jen. Justine, you wanna join me?” Jared interrupted.

The nine-year old glanced up in surprise, but something in his expression must have tipped her off because she was scrambling up immediately, “Sure.”

Jared stayed quiet while they placed their order and then impulsively asked for two slices of pie to have right there while they waited. Plates in hand, he guided his young companion to the out-of-the-way table in one corner and sat her down.

Justine cut into the pie eagerly and Jared watched with a smile as the girl dug in with gusto- _apparently Eddie and Will were rubbing off on her table manners._ He made a mental note to discuss the issue with Jensen and waited till the child glanced up at him.

“Papa?” She asked, catching on.

He smiled reassuringly, “You’re not I trouble, I promise.”

“But?”

“I’d like for you to tell me why you’re avoiding your Dad.”

The smile immediately fell off her face and everything in Jared wanted to reach out and comfort her. He gripped the edge of the table as he forced himself to wait for Justine to formulate her response.

“He hurt you,” She announced after a moment, and then catching his expression added: “It was on the news.”

“Well, that was because I had done a very bad thing,” Jared told her.

“But we shouldn’t hit people. Dad taught us that, but then _he_ hit _you!”_

Jared sighed, unable to fault her logic, but needing to explain, “Okay, I’m going to tell you something that I probably shouldn’t… but I feel this is something that you need to know.”

She nodded in a gesture so reminiscent of Danneel that Jared felt his heart lurch.

“Okay, so before I begin, I need you to understand that your Dad is one of the best people I’ve had the honour of knowing. There’s no one who is kinder or more protective than Jensen-”

“But he beat you!” She interrupted.

Jared sighed, suddenly tired of explaining without divulging any specific details and blurted in exasperation: “Yes, but he only did it to protect me!”

She frowned, visibly taken aback by his words before confessing, “I don’t understand.”

Jared nodded, relieved that he had managed to challenge her conviction sufficiently to make her actually _listen_ to what he was saying instead of just hearing the words. “You know that I’m… I’m _indentured_ , right? That I need to have a- a custodian?”

Justine nodded.

“Do you know what _custodian_ means?”

The girl hesitated, “…owner?”

“Sort of,” Jared smiled, nodding. “It’s basically someone who has agreed to take responsibility for taking care of or protecting someone or something.”

Justine’s brows furrowed, as she thought over his words. “It doesn’t have to be another person?”

“No,” Jared explained, glad that she was actually talking to him and wasn’t blocking him like she was Jensen. “You can have custodians of art pieces, of a museum, a house…”

“I didn’t know that,” Justine admitted.

“And now you do,” Jared smiled at her, grabbing a bite from his own slice of pie before continuing at her nod, “So… to put it simply, according to the rules my custodian has to ensure I do not break the… rules.” He let slip a helpless snort at the repetitive word but sobered soon enough. “Your father… You father is my custodian, you know that, right?” He waited for another nod before continuing, “Now he may be my _custodian,_ but he’s my friend first. _Best_ friend to be honest, in fact. And we were friends long before this law came in, right? So when he took me in-… _accepted responsibility for me_ ,” Jared amended, “he had to promise those people that he would … well, that he would be able to punish me if I was… _naughty_ , for the lack of a better word… If he didn’t, they would take me away from you all.”

She nodded again, but Jared could see that she was not wholly convinced.

“You know that I submit a list of infractions like you kids, right?” Jared pressed.

She frowned more, clearly not making the connection.

“You know, the list that you all hand over to your Dad every Saturday,” Jared explained.

“Yes, but Daddy never beat us-”

“He never beat me either, Sweetheart.” Jared interrupted. “And it’s a credit to Jensen’s integrity that he told you about my punishment last week-”

“Dad didn’t tell me.” Justine interrupted, tiny eyebrows furrowed mutinously in confusion. “I had to ask him,”

Jared snorted, choosing not to comment on the fact that he had overheard the conversation, “Birdie, if I know your Dad at all, then I know that he didn’t offer any excuses for his actions- you asked him if he was responsible for the marks on my skin and he told you that he was. Am I right?”

The nine-year old’s frown deepened but she acquiesced the point.

“See, that shows how much…” He trailed off and reframed his words, “If you’d asked me the same question, I would have said no.”

“What? _Why?!_ ”

“Because your Dad didn’t _beat_ me for kicks, J-bird. You think he enjoyed it?! … He hated every single second of it and the only reason he did it was because the alternative was worse.”

The girl’s mouth dropped open in surprise, giving Jared an unappetizing view of the half-masticated pie and he paused. “Close your mouth, kiddo.”

She obeyed him with a shy ‘sorry’ and Jared smiled, reaching out to ruffle her hair lightly. It pulled on his still healing welts, but he swallowed down the pain to relish the uncomplicated love and trust that his best friend’s daughter had gifted him.

“Your Dad really is the best man I’ve ever known, J-bird; and if you- _any of you kids-_ grow up to be even half as good as him, it’ll be more than I would hope for.”

“You’re really not mad at him for hitting you, are you?” She asked wonderingly.

“I’m not,” Jared agreed easily as they rose to accept the order from the counter when the overhead board pinged with their order number. He glanced at her as he slid back behind the wheel of Jensen’s truck and continued, “You know, when this law was first announced and my name was in the guilty list? Your Dad offered to take my place. He didn’t tell anyone, simply filed an appeal to serve the sentence in my stead. Thankfully, his application got rejected, but I saw the- the application, you know? He would’ve had to serve a longer sentence because he wasn’t the actual ‘guilty’ party, and he couldn’t serve it under me because I was the ‘accused’. You know that not all custodian’s are nice, right? And given how we are actors, there was a high chance that he’d be given to one of those ‘not-nice’ people because it would have been an open bid. He would have never been allowed to see you kids. … serve a longer sentence as well as fulfil other caveats… All that and he still agreed. Still signed that form … I remember asking him how he could even think of doing it, and he told me that I would be safe, and that made it worth it….”

Jared shook his head, caught up in the memories and forgetting for a moment to whom he was speaking, “I asked him what he would tell Dani and the twins and JUSTINE… and he said ‘ _nothing’_ … that he simply hoped that you would forgive him someday.”

There was a loud sniffle from beside him and Jared jumped as he realized what he’d just let slip.

“You’re the light of his life, Kiddo… He would endure anything for you kids, you know? And despite how much he loves y’all, he was still willing to risk giving you up and letting you all hate him to protect me. Now do you understand why I’m not angry with Jensen?... He would do anything… and I literally mean _anything,_ just to protect those he cares for. I would listen to him without question, because while we may not always see eye to eye, Jensen will _never_ ask me to do something out of maliciousness. It may not be the _right_ thing, but I can rest assured that it was the best thing under the circumstances. … so I know I’m repeating myself, but I mean it, Kiddo; if anyone says you’re like him, be proud of it, JUSTINE… because if you grow up into half the person that Jensen is, then you’d be undeniably good.”

The girl let out another soft sob, but nodded her understanding- bowing her head and allowing her hair to fall like a soft gold curtain that hid her teary eyes.

“Oh, sweetheart.” Jared sighed, opening his arms, “C’mere.”

And he was gratified when she did.

***

***

Late that night Jared woke to the knowledge of a presence beside him, jerking when something grasped his hand. He relaxed instantly when the familiar callused palm revealed the identity of the person beside him. Lightly chapped, soft lips pressed a kiss onto his knuckles before a head bowed over it, pressing the bony points against the soft skin of closed eyelids. Jared frowned when he sensed the wetness there but when he tried to pull his hand back to check on the man, the grip on his hand tightened.

“Thank you,” A gravelly voice whispered into the dark before pressing another chaste kiss to his knuckles.

Jared opened his mouth to respond but before he could even get the first syllable out, the figure released his hand and swiftly left the room. Jared sighed and shook his head as he lay back down.


	14. 13

“Woah, you don’t start there.”

Jared peered in through the open bathroom door at Jensen’s unexpected exclamation. He hadn’t meant to intrude but Eddie had not appeared for breakfast with the rest of the brood and JUSTINE had indicated that he’d gone to speak to Jensen; so he’d come in to see what was holding back the duo.

His eyes widened when he saw his boy next to the older actor in front of the sink, both their faces covered in shaving foam. Eddie had a disposable cartridge razor poised over his upper lip and Jensen’s hand was gently grasping his wrist to keep him from enacting on his impulse.

There was a part of him that felt like he’d been doused in ice-water when he realized that his son had actually approached Jensen to learn how to shave instead of him, but the rest of him was not surprised- he knew he’d lost his chance when he’d failed to protect the boy all those years ago. He was only thankful that Jensen seemed to have talked Eddie ‘round so that the boy didn’t _hate_ him anymore, but something had splintered in their relationship that fateful day and Jared knew he would never be able to piece the jagged ends together seamlessly. He could only be thankful that Eddie hadn’t shared his misgivings with his brother and Will still believed in him unflinchingly.

Jensen caught his eye in the reflection and shot him a proud smile, “Can you believe our Eddie’s old enough to shave, now? I’m gonna start him off with disposable cartridge razors instead of those electric ones- I mean, every man should learn to do it this way first, right? And once he’s got the hang of it, I’ll show him how to use a straight razor.”

“Sounds good,” Jared agreed.

His son glanced towards him at the words but apart from a perfunctory smile, didn’t say anything, choosing to continue his dialogue with Jensen instead, “But, that’s where all of the hair is! It’s not like I’ve got a full beard like you or Dad...”

Jensen just smiled and shook his head, “You’ll grow your facial hair once you’re a bit older, don’t worry. Then you’re going to wish you could be fresh-faced awhile longer. For now, you start at your sideburns-”

“I want my side-burns. I like them!” Eddie protested.

Jared couldn’t help but smile as he reached forward and took his son’s hand with his own and positioned it just below his left ear, “You can start where your sideburn ends. Can you see that?”

Eddie peered into the mirror where he’d placed his hand with the razor and shook his head, “There’s only foam...”

Jensen chuckled as he swiped a hand through the frothy mix to reveal the boy’s side-burns, “Now?”

Eddie nodded. “Yeah, can I begin? Can I start shaving now?”

Jared smiled gently as he nodded his permission but didn’t release his hold on the smaller hand within his own, “Only to the cheekbone.”

“Wait,” Jensen interrupted, “Watch me, first. Then you can copy the action”

Both Eddie and Jared watched as Jensen expertly brought his own razor up to the matching position on his own face and then smoothly brought it down up to his cheekbone. Then repeated the movement till the right side of his face was mostly clear. “You got it?”

There was a beat of silence and then Eddie spoke up again, “I’m going to need you to actually release my hand to actually do it, you know.”

“I’m just trying to show you how to do it,” Jared countered as he kept his hand gently curved over his son’s.

“I know, but you won’t always be there to help. I need to do it on my own.” 

With a sigh, Jared released Eddie’s hand and stepped back, “Fine. Remember, it should just be one stroke, okay? Nice and slow until you reach your cheekbone.”

Eddie nodded and finally started to mimic Jensen’s movement, Jared’s hands itched to curl over his son’s but he forced himself to stay quiet and observe as Eddie finished the first stroke and adjusted his hands to do it again. 

Both he and Jensen watched as the boy shaved either side of his face, but when he started to curve the razor to shave along his lip, Jensen stepped in again, “Woah! Hold up, Kiddo, you’re doing it wrong!”

Jared’s reaction had been less vocal, he had reached to grab the razor to stop the boy, but Eddie moved his hand away. “Fine! Just tell me how, okay? I can do it.” 

“Let us show you this first time?” Jensen asked.

Eddie sighed. “But, if you keep showing me, then there’s going to be nothing left for me to shave!”

While Jared would have argued with that pronouncement, Jensen only nodded his head in acceptance. “Okay then, how about you watch me do it first?”

And then, without another word, the older actor picked up his own razor and brought it to his left ear. He slowly starts to drag it down his cheek, stopping where he had told Eddie to.

“Papa!” Eddie protested, exasperated, “I’m already done with that part.”

“I’m not,” Jensen shrugged. “And like I said, you need to do this first before you touch your moustache.”

“Shit!”

Jensen jumped at the exclamation and it was only his years of handling razors that saved him from cutting himself, “Don’t startle me like that when I’ve got sharp objects in my hand!”

“Sorry,”

Jensen waved him off, “Now, what’s the problem?”

“Just realized that you’re shaving your vacation beard!”

With furrowed eyebrows, Jensen shot a sidelong glance at Eddie. “Yes, Kiddo. That’s what usually happens when you use a razor on your face.”

“But, it’s your _vacation_ beard!”

“Kiddo, it’s facial hair. It’ll grow back and I’ll do it again,” Jensen assured him with a smile.

Despite what he said, Eddie still looked slightly guilty since the whole thing had begun. “You don’t have to shave it because of me, Papa.”

“You’re talking like this is permanent.” Jensen rolled his eyes. “Besides, I’m already done with one side; you don’t want me to go ‘round with half a beard, do you? Jared, tell him.”

“It’s okay, Eddie.” Jared supplied dutifully. He had not thought about Jensen shaving off his own beard just to teach Eddie and a part of him was feeling as guilty as his son.

“Wow, that’s _so_ convincing.” Jensen snarked at him before shooting Eddie a look, “Okay, now watch this part. First, rinse off your brush, yeah? Now we can move onto your chin.”

Eddie nodded dutifully and they both rinsed their razors before starting their chins; Jared watching carefully as Eddie coped the elder’s actions. Jensen showed him how to shave under his chin with upward strokes and moved onto how to shave his neck as well, even though Eddie griped that he didn’t need to, yet _._

“Be very slow,” Jared cautioned as he watched his son carefully shave his hairless neck. “Especially around your Adam’s apple.”

Eddie obeyed without a word and went even slower than he was before, but he finished it with only a single nick. He winced but both Jensen and him assured the boy that it was normal to nick himself the first few times. It was almost funny when the boy let out a breath of relief once he was done. “Is it time now?”

Jensen laughed. “Yeah, kiddo. C’mon, let’s say goodbye to that moustache. You need to pull your lip over your teeth so you can stretch your skin.”

Eddie copied his actions like before, visibly happy to get the hair off his lip. When he’s finished, he rinsed off his razor and put it down on the counter next to Jensen’s. He smiled widely as he looked at both the older men who’d been supervising this vital rite of passage. “I did it!”

Jensen matched his grin as he handed him a towel. “Wash off the rest of the cream and you can admire a job well done.”

Eddie obediently rinsed his face and neck and smiled up at his reflection. “Thank you for showing me how to shave. I’d seen some videos but they all said contradictory stuff and I was so confused and-”

Raising an eyebrow and meeting Jared’s eye in the reflection once, Jensen interrupted, “Glad we could help, but we’re not finished yet.”

He grabbed his bottle of aftershave. “Last step and then you can earn your _Shaving for the First Time Badge_.” He put some on his hands and rubbed it into his skin with a practised motion. “This is the one I like, your Dad prefers a more fruity scent and you can have your own preferences. So, how about you use this one for now, and we can figure out what scent you prefer the next time we hit the stores, okay?”

Eddie sniffed the air and shrugged, “It smells good. Smells like you.”

Jensen smiled, “Yeah? Glad you like it. Okay then, ready to earn your badge? Here.”

After putting some in his own hands, Eddie rubbed it into his own skin. It took a moment, but then the boy was rapidly slapping his face and hissing in pain. “Papa! Is it supposed to be burning?!”

Both the older men laughed at the youngster’s reaction, having forgotten to warn the boy about that. “Never seen _Home Alone_?”

“Traitors!” Eddie grumbled before turning wide eyes on Jensen, “You didn’t even flinch!”

“Kid, when you’ve shaved as much as I- _we_ have, you barely notice it. You can look for one that doesn’t sting. And, I don’t know about Jared regarding this, but I actually like that feeling,” Jensen admitted.

Eddie rolled his eyes. “I’ll try it a few more times before I decide.”

“That works too,” Jensen agreed.

“So that’s it? We’re done?”

Jensen nodded, watching as the boy left with a one-armed hug and a quick ‘ _thanks’._

Jared smiled and shook his head, “They grow up so fast, don’t they?”

Jensen nodded, but this time his eyes were focussed on Jared. “You want to get rid of that beard?”

Jared raised an eyebrow, “You offering?”

Jensen waved his hand in a grand flourish and the indentured man could only snort at his friend’s gesture. He dragged a chair into the room and sat down, leaning back so he could rest his head against the char’s back-rest, “Okay then; get to work, Jerk.”

“Bitch.”

Jared opened his eyes from where he’d closed them and smiled. No matter how many years went by, a part of them would always be Sam and Dean Winchester.

“Straight razor okay with you?” The older man asked absently as he rummaged through his kit.

“You hiding any homicidal inclinations that I should be worrying about?”

“Uh...no?” Jensen shot back, “At least not at the moment.”

“Good, then go on. I’m fine with a straight razor.” Jared confirmed before arching his head backwards to bare the vulnerable line of his throat.

“Awesome.”

Justine glanced at them curiously when they went back out to the living room, “There some event today that I don’t know about?”

“No,” Jensen shook his head, “But now that you mention it, I feel like doing something? What about you guys? Want to host a night in?”

“Like a party?”

“Something like that,” Jensen agreed. Then noticing the gleeful look on the teens’ faces , hastily amended, “Just us, though.”

There were good natured groans but no real protest.


	15. 14

Jared jerked when there was a light tap on his shoulder and he glanced back in surprise when Will was cocking his thumb towards the side room reserved for the bride. He cast wide eyes around, hoping to locate Jensen or Dani, but was unable to find either of the two and figured that was probably why Will had asked him to attend to Justine. He shuffled out of the aisle awkwardly, loth to give up the dark nook he’d found for himself from where he could have a clear view of the proceedings without being in the way. He knocked briefly and slipped in, freezing when he found both Jensen and Danneel present with Justine.

“Oh, Will said Birdie wanted someone… I thought you guy’s were around so.. I’ll go-”

“Jared,” Dani interrupted with a chuckle, “Will called you on purpose, we want you here…”

“Oh…” He blinked dumbly before realizing he was yet to close his mouth and snapping his jaw shut with a snap, “Sure, what can I do to help?”

“Well, for starters, you can slip into this tux,” Jensen responded, holding out a case.

“Jen I- I can’t… you know I’m not-”

“It’s a gift,” Jensen interrupted. “And that’s because it’s a necessity, you can’t walk her down the aisle in that outfit.”

“Walk her…. Jensen! I can’t- You -you’re her dad! It should be you walking her down-”

“Dad will be there too, Papa.” A familiar voice interrupted and for a moment Jared lost his voice as he stared at the veritable vision that his _Goddaughter_ was. “I want both my fathers there when I make my trip down the aisle… Please don’t say no?”

_And how could he refuse?_

***

***

“Dad, don’t you think it’s time you told us why you called us all here?” Edward asked, as he cut into his cake slice.

Jared shook his head at his eldest’s impatience- Eddie had never been the one to quietly wait his turn and now as an adult, the trait hadn’t diminished. He met Jensen’s eyes across the table and both older men suppressed a smile.

“Well, you’re not wrong about my intentions,” Jensen agreed.

“But-?” Justine prompted as she settled against her husband of four years.

“But I was hoping to enjoy our dessert in peace before the arguments began,”

“It’s about the latest protests against the _Debt Resolution Bill,”_ Will mused aloud. “Am I right, Papa?”

“You always were a sharp one, Willy.” Jensen chuckled.

Jared watched as the crinkles around his friend’s eyes that had turned into permanent fixtures on his face with age deepened and the still vibrant green eyes briefly met his.

“Given how much media coverage your father received when he was named on the list, there is a high probability that the media would approach you-”

“It’s a certainty,” Danneel huffed.

“Yeah, well.” Jensen shrugged, “I thought we should have a unified stand as a family. What do y’all think?”

“As long as we’re supporting the protest, I think you’re right,” Justine announced, sharp eyes daring anybody to challenge her.

“And that is precisely why I though we might need a discussion,” Jensen huffed.

“Dad, you cannot be serious!” The young woman protested, “Are you actually suggesting that we condemn the protestors?”

“No!” Jensen raised his hands- palms out, in the classic white-flag pose. He sighed as he lowered his hands, “Look, I’d like nothing more than to join these protestors; but I’d not be able to live with myself if the government took Jared away or hurt him in anyway as retaliation,”

“What your father means, is we can’t be hasty about this… our priority has to be Jared.” Danneel added, with a squeeze to Jensen’s shoulder.

“Alright,” William spoke into the ensuing silence, always the voice of reason among his siblings. “What do you suggest we do?”


	16. 15

Jared ground his teeth and reminded himself that Jensen had been nothing but kind to him in the last thirty two years. It made him question his own attitude before he reminded himself that as long as he gave the man a patient hearing, he was entitled to act as per his own decision

It had been six years since the protests against the _Debt Resolution Bill_ had sparked protests against the country and there was still no end in sight for those serving sentences under it. The only thing the protests had managed to accomplish had been raise the limit for what counted as ‘offence’ under the scheme. The number of people sentenced to servitude had dropped dramatically, but it had also made it so corporations could purchase the loans of those indicted under it.

The latest uproar had been caused when it was discovered that pharmaceutical companies were paying off the ‘debt’ in abnormally large instalments by using those signing the agreements for human trials for their products. The “positive”, as they proclaimed in the numerous advertisements they lobbied for, was the sharp decrease in the time it took to complete testing for a novel drug. When the indentured who signed those agreements were questioned, they all responded that they would rather take a ‘calculated risk’ and reduce the number of years of their sentence than play it safe and end up serving decades. A few even had the gall to name Jared personally as one the ‘idiots’ who was content to spend ‘years in servitude’.

Jensen had switched off the news when Jared was named, but the damage had already been done by then. It had been a bad week as Jared spiralled after hearing those scathing accusations. It took both, Jensen _and_ Danneel, days to talk him out of his funk, but in the end they managed to convince him that the ones accusing him were the ‘idiots’ because they were risking their very lives and their life-long health for lessening a couple of years of their sentences. … which was why he was thoroughly offended when Jensen dithered on signing the release documents that had arrived that morning.

“Look, if you just hear me out,” the man requested, “I will sign that paper if you are not convinced by what I have to say.”

“Fine,” Jared grumbled, “whatever.”

“No,” Jensen protested, “You’ve got to believe me, man; I have no intention of keeping you chained… but I genuinely think this is a trap.”

That jerked him out of his impolite musings, “Trap?!”

“Trap,” Jensen nodded. “They are offering you your freedom, correct. But at what cost, Jay?”

“I’m… I’m not sure I follow,” Jared answered slowly.

“Look, the limits have increased, but they still exist.” Jensen explained, “Which means that while you’re free, and they’re _oh-so-graciously_ offering you a grace period to accumulate enough dough to meet that limit, there’s no way in reality that you’re actually going to be able to manage it. And _that_? _That would land you right where they want you-_ which is in their clutches. You’re going to be the star of their ‘re-sentenced’ agenda. They’ll destroy your credibility, and spin it like you can’t survive in the world without supervision… And I’m not sure if they would allow me to renew my claim if that scenario were to happen.”

Jared closed his eyes and sank back against the couch as he processed that. “You really think that’s their plan?”

“I really don’t know, Jared.” Jensen sighed. “I’d like to believe I’m wrong, in fact; I really _really_ hope I’m wrong… and I would understand if you were disincline to believe me. It’s just… I wanted to let you know the possible risks before I signed.” He picked up the pen and uncapped it.

“Wait!”

Jensen stopped, glancing up in surprise at his sharp call.

“What is the alternative?”

“Ummm,”

“Jen?”

“Alternatively, we can send them a mail on your behalf, thanking and declining their offer. We state that you would prefer to continue living in my custody till you manage to create a small nest egg-”

“And how long would that be?”

“Given you’ll be permitted your full salary, if you continue to stay under my care; I’d suspect around fifteen months? Eighteen months is the maximum period we can ask for the extension, but I think fifteen would be enough for us.”

“And what exactly would we be trying to accomplish?”

“You’ll need a property of your own- I was thinking you could buy that corner plot at the north-end of the estate. That way we’d be close by but you’d still have your own space. Plus, I’d be willing to sell it to you at a nominal rate.”

“You’d be _selling_ it to me?”

“Well, I’d rather just give it to you, but you would need documentation, so.”

“Right.”

“We can build you a cottage there,”

“Because that’ll help me save that much faster,” Jared answered drily.

“In a way,” Jensen answered with a wink.

“What’re you planning?” Jared asked suspiciously, as the other man winked and left the room, “Jensen? Jensen!”

*******

****

*******

“You can’t be serious,”

“I am, trust me.” Jensen answered as he and Danneel flanked Jared.

“But- but this…?!”

“Look, this way you save on construction costs and _still_ get your name on the paper as a property owner-”

“I _know_ that Jen, that’s not what I’m saying… this- this is too much!”

“No, what is ‘ _too much’_ is you spending thirty three years in _indentureship_ because of a bullshit law.”

“Jensen,” Danneel chided.

“It wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been, Jen.” Jared told his friend quietly. “You made sure of that,”

“I made you serve an extra fifteen months.”

“Because you cared!” Jared protested, “Look, I know you feel guilty … but that’s just your over-developed guilt-complex. You and I both know that things could have turned out a lot worse for me than it was… I mean, they wanted me to be the poster-boy for their twisted campaigns. You _saved_ me from that! And not _just_ me- you saved Eddie and Will too.”

“But-”

“No, you saved me. Saved _us._ ”

“You don’t hate me?” Jensen asked in a small voice.

“Not even if I tried,”

“Despite everything?”

Jared smiled, “Despite everything.”

“You promise?”

Jared glanced back at Danneel, “You sure he didn’t hit his head somewhere? It’s like he thinks he still on the set of _Days_ ,”

The red haired woman laughed, “You two are really adorable, you know that? Gen and I used to wonder if there would be a day when all those fangirls would be proven right and you’d ride into the sunset in that fancy black car,”

“Guess we’ll ne’er find out now, will we?”

“Really?” The woman demanded, unimpressed by the cheeky retort, “And here I thought you’d reassure me,”

Jared laughed at their banter and swung his arms around the both of them to bring them into a hug, “Thank you guys, this is seriously awesome.”

“Glad you like it,” Dani told him, squeezing his side gently.

“So now what? Do I move in?”

“About that,” Jensen began apologetically.

Jared raised an eyebrow.

“You can’t have a separate residence till your sentence is completed,”

“But my sentence _is_ completed.” Jared argued.

“Yeah, but you- _we-_ asked for an extension…so.”

“I see.”

“And I know it should technically end in another fortnight, and I hate to say this but Jared, I’d rather not screw this up when we’re so close to the end of this nightmare-”

“What’re you saying, Jen?”

“We’ll move your stuff and get everything set up… but I’d rather you didn’t come here alone till we get the official letter from them confirming the end of your servitude.”

“Come here alone?”

“Give me or Dani a holler. We’ll escort you. If you want, we’ll not even step in or you know, _do_ anything… but we’ll hang around out here while you set things up inside. I just don’t want them finding any sort or loophole or undotted I or _shit, anything_ to renege on the agreement. The key will be hanging from the hook by the door- you know, the one where all our keys are kept; so you can access it anytime. Just, please don’t venture out here alone, alright? Not till you have the document confirming your freedom.”

Jared nodded and with one last glance, decisively turned away from the cottage- _till he got his freedom._


	17. Epilogue

The day Jared received his manumission papers was nothing special; it was an ordinary Thursday and Danneel was out for some talk show. Jensen had gone to the brewery to help upgrade the systems. So he was alone when the email came.

He sat quietly for a few minutes before packing his things- it was hard to believe that he only had a single suitcases’ worth of stuff that _he_ owned in over three decades of living in this house. Once he was done, he took one last look around the place and then, after he’d placed a print of the mail on the table, headed out. He walked across the property to the little cottage they had set up and opened it- entering it alone for the first time since he had received the deed for the property.

It wasn’t much, just a tiny bedroom and kitchen on either side of a closet sized ‘hallway’. … but it was ‘ _his’_. It was ‘ _home’_.

He smiled.

_He was free_.

***

Alternative Cover-art, created by the lovely Soniama:

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this tale...and I'm slightly nervous about this one, so do drop me a line in the comments below and let me know your thoughts :-)
> 
> Also, I've recently started a blog for my original fiction (and I'll gradually be moving my stories from here to the blog as well). So it would be great if you guys could check it out! Link is as follows: https://sanshal.blogspot.com/


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